How disagreement with scavenger triggered killings in Abuja community

Three persons have been feared killed in a clash between local scavengers and residents of the Byazhin community, in Kubwa, a satellite town in Bwari Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Daily Trust correspondent, who visited the area on Wednesday evening, observed as residents were discussing the incident in groups.

Shops in the area were partially shut.

A resident, Tina Nelson, told our reporter that trouble started when a scavenger attempted to steal a woman’s property on Tuesday, but was beaten up after the woman alerted people around.

Nelson said the scavenger then went away and mobilised his colleagues who returned around 7:45pm and began attacking residents at random.

According to her, the woman whose property was tampered with was killed during the attack.

She said: “Since yesterday, we have not been at rest in this community. The chaos continued till this morning. Actually, I was not around when the whole thing started, I was at work. But I learnt that the scavenger tried to steal from a woman but was stopped. He later went to inform some of his colleagues about what had transpired.

“They stormed the area with different weapons and ended up killing the woman. Apart from the woman, other persons have also died during the chaos. The area is calm now because the security agencies swung into action.”

Efforts to reach the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police spokesperson, Josephine Adeh, to comment on the matter, were unsuccessful as her telephone number rang out unanswered.