Women and youths in Kaffinkoro, Paikoro Local Government Area, Niger State, on Tuesday burnt down the Kaffinkoro Police Divisional Headquarters, days after Reverend Father Isaac Achi, Parish Priest of St Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Kafin-koro, was burned to death by bandits.
The Quest Times had reported that gunmen suspected to be bandits, on Sunday burnt Rev. Fr Isaac Achi alive at his residence in Kaffinkoro town, Paikoro Local Government Area of Niger State.
Rev. Father Achi was in charge of St. Peters and Paul Catholic Church, along Daza road, KaffinKoro, Paikoro LGA.
The Quest Times gathered that his assistant who sustained gunshot wounds in the incident that happened during the early hours of Sunday, has been rushed to the hospital.
However, some Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) and Catholic women’s groups converged on the burnt parish’s premises as early as 7am on Tuesday to pray against those who gruesomely murdered Rev Achi.
A police detachment from the Kaffinkoro Police Division was dispatched to the church, claiming to be sent to protect the praying congregation, The Nation reports.
Still distraught over the police’s failure to respond on time and prevent the Father’s death, the women refused and resisted the police’s protection.
The women allegedly accused the police of failing to do anything to help the late Reverend Father and asked the operatives to leave.
To make their point, the women threw stones and sachet water at the officers, forcing them to retreat to their station.
Following the prayers, some youths joined the women in a peaceful march through the town’s major roads to the Police Division, chanting anti-police slogans to register their grievances.
They requested that the police leave town, claiming that their presence was of no security value to the community.
To disperse the crowd, police began firing into the air, with one bullet striking a middle-aged man who died instantly, transforming the protest into a violent exercise.
During the protest, some unidentified individuals set fire to the police division, causing the entire building to be burnt down.
It was gathered that the youths were angered by the slow response of the police to the cries for help from the people when the gunmen attacked his residence on Sunday morning at about 3am.
It was learnt that during the protest, cars and houses including the police outpost were burnt, even as some persons sustained various degrees of injuries.
Confirming the development in the area, the state Commissioner for Internal Security and Humanitarian Services, Emmanuel Bagna Umar said though the state government is pained by the incident, nobody has the right to take laws into his or her hands for whatever reason.
The commissioner stated that the state government will not allow any obstruction to law and order as it is doing its best to ensure the security of the lives and property of citizens of the state.
According to him, “since the incident happened on Sunday, you have seen the commitment of government that is why we are calling on communities to support the government in ridding the state of bandits and not to take side by vandalizing government property.”
He insisted, “violence has no place in our communities, we understand the times and trend we are living in. No man on this land is permitted to take laws into his or her hands. The same way we go after bandits is the same way we will go after whoever takes laws into his or her hands because we have the responsibility to protect the lives of everyone.”
Umar also added that a security team has already been dispatched to Kaffinkoro to do an on-the-spot assessment of the situation, especially the remote cause of the violence outbreak by the youths.
Also, the State Police Public Relations Officer, PRO, DSP Wasiu Abiodun confirmed the burning down of the police station in the area by angry youths, saying it was because of the poor response in rescuing the Catholic Priest.
“They are angry that the police could come on time to rescue the Rev Father and this is because his house is about one kilometre from the police station. Before they could mobilize and get to his place to engage the assailants, they had already run away from the scene, when they saw the police coming.”
He added, “another problem was that there was no water close by to quickly put out the fire when the police got there to save the Priest.”