Niger State map
operating in Minna, the Niger State capital, on Thursday cut off the right hand of a resident while attempting to snatch his handset from him.
The man whose identity was not immediately disclosed was walking in a dark alley around 8.30pm on Tunga Street when the hoodlums approached him and demanded that he handed over his handset to them which he bluntly refused.
The hoodlums decided to forcefully snatch the phone from him and the man started resisting as he held tightly to his phone. One of the bandits drew out a dagger from his babanriga and cut off the man’s hand.
Both the man’s hand and the phone fell on the ground as the man began to shout for help. The hoodlums simply picked the handset and fled the scene before neighbours gathered at the scene and helped the man to a nearby pharmacy for first aid.
The Niger State Police Command spokesman, Wasiu Abiodun, did not pick several calls put across to his phones on Saturday.
A WhatsApp message was sent to his mobile phone, which read, “Good afternoon sir. Please, I learnt some hoodlums cut off the right hand of a resident on Tunga Street near Top Medical Hospital while attempting to snatch his handset. The incident happened on Thursday night.”
At the time of filing the report, Abiodun did not call back. He however replied to the WhatsApp message saying, “There was no report of such incident to the police.”
However, a resident who gave his name as Sule Abdulkarem, said he was a vigilante operative.
He advised Minna residents to be wary of walking at dark corners at night, stressing that the city had become too violent due to hoodlums.
According to Abdulkareem, the economic hardship in the country has raised a large army of hoodlums who terrorise innocent citizens making life difficult for people. He called on police to intensify their patrol to ensure that the hoodlums do not always have their way.
“The city is very dangerous now. The economic hardship is biting very hard and these hoodlums are everywhere, bearing daggers and other dangerous weapons. Residents should reduce their night walk and stop making calls while walking because these hoodlums are everywhere.
“The police should increase their patrols of the city and mainly dark corners. These boys are everywhere, even in traffic they are there to snatch ladies bags. The police must so something to stop the rise in this crimes in the city because it is becoming too much,” he said.
Minna has become a hotbed of hoodlums attacks following the economic hardship faced by citizens in the State. It has become common for hoodlums to snatch the handset of residents and take to their heels.
Another ugly development in the state capital is hooligans snatching ladies handbags and running into a crowd of people trekking due to the high cost of transportation.
“The rate of these ugly incidents is getting out of hand,” Abdulkareem, noted.
