A violent confrontation on Saturday left the residents of Kurna, Rijiyar Lemo, and Bachirawa quarters in Dala Local Government Area of Kano State in mourning.
Ten individuals were shot, and seven reportedly died during a protest that escalated into chaos.
The unrest followed a nationwide protest on Thursday in Kano, which turned violent with widespread looting and destruction of property worth billions of naira.
In response, the state government imposed a 24-hour curfew, briefly relaxed on Friday to allow residents to observe the congregational Jumu’ah prayer from noon to 5 p.m.
Defying the curfew on Saturday, youths in Kurna, Rijiyar Lemo, and Bachirawa organized a special prayer (Alqunut) over the country’s hardship near a pedestrian bridge before embarking on what they intended to be a peaceful protest.
The peaceful demonstration took a deadly turn when a confrontation ensued between the protesters and the police, who were enforcing the curfew.
According to eyewitnesses, the police, led by a divisional police officer (DPO), ordered the crowd to disperse and began shooting when some hoodlums tried to break into Sahad Store in Bachirawa and Masama Store in Rijiyar Lemo.
Eyewitnesses reported that the situation escalated quickly as the hoodlums started throwing stones at the police.
In one of the several viral videos from the incident, the DPO can be heard threatening to shoot to kill if his personnel were hit by stones. Speaking in Hausa, he said, “I will gun you down and nothing will happen.”
During the police’s sporadic shooting, stray bullets hit about ten people, including a 5-year-old girl, four women, and five men.
A young woman, whose wedding was scheduled for the next week, died from her injuries at a local hospital in Rijiyar Lemo.
Another victim’s brother confirmed that his younger brother would be buried on Sunday morning after succumbing to his bullet wound.
Ibrahim Yahaya, a resident of Kurna, recounted that six victims, including women and children, were being treated for gunshot wounds at a private clinic. Unfortunately, two of them died later that evening around 7:30 p.m.
Most victims were struck by bullets in areas around Kurna Layin Masallaci, Kunya Chemists, Kurna Tudun Bojuwa, and Rijiyar Lemo.
Despite several attempts, the Kano Command Police Public Relations Officer, SP Abdullahi Haruna Kiyawa, could not be reached for comments as his line was not connecting at the time of filing this report.
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