Jos: Youths protest puncturing of car tyres by soldier

Category: News Published on Saturday, 16 March 2013 05:00 Written by Lami Sadiq, Jos Hits: 352

There was pandemonium yesterday afternoon at the motor park on Bauchi road in Jos when a group of angry youths demonstrated the action of a soldier who was alleged to have punctured the tyres of five vehicles parked outside the park.

Weekly Trust gathered that soon after the Friday prayers, which is usually conducted inside the motor park, worshippers came out to find their car tyres punctured by the soldier whose name was given as Captain Akala. He is the Special Task Force (STF).
The action led to demonstration by a group of angry youths who claimed that Captain Akala punctured the tyres of the vehicles which were all privately owned.
The Secretary of Bauchi motor park Auwalu Garba explained that “the cars were parked by the shoulders of the road and did not cause any hindrance to road users. After the friday prayers we heard commotion and when we came out, we found some angry youths demonstrating the actions of Captain Akala whom we heard used a knife to puncture the tyres himself.”
Garba added that the soldiers by the checkpoints clocked their guns and threaten to shoot the youths and shot sporadically in the air but the youths refused to leave until the arrival of other military officer and Captain Akala himself promised to pay for the car tyres he damaged.
The member House of Assembly representing Jos North, Ibrahim Baba Hassan, who addressed the angry youths at the park, urged the youths not to take laws into their hands but to lay a formal complaint to the STF Commander Major General Henry Ayoola.”
Hassan promised to raise a motion on the issue stressing that “ the action of the said officer cannot be tolerated because it can serve as a security threat to the peace we are experiencing.”
officials of the STF were not immediately available for comment.