Uneasy in Gwagwalada Area Council as man, 59, dies

Tunga Maje village in Gwagwalada area council in the Federal Capital Territory is a few kilometers from Zuba town, where the FCT College of Education is located. The village is one of the areas occupied by the original indigenes of the Federal Capital Territory. The area is mostly populated by the Gbagis who are native people of the FCT, including the Koro people, also regarded as indigenous people of Abuja.

Tunga Maje is not known in recent past for violence and criminal activities in any form, until Tuesday, April 4, 2017, when a 59-year-old man and a resident of the village, ShuaibuTijani, was allegedly killed by a group of Koro Boys in the village.

Narrating what happened on that fateful day, one of the sons of the deceased, Sani, said the boys numbering about 12 stormed their residence at Angwa Bassa, brandishing different arms like cutlass, knife and stick, with the aim of attacking him and his brother, Salam.

Speaking further, the 23-year-old Sani said: “When we were playing football at a field in Tunga Maje, on Tuesday, April 4, 2017, a boy came and he was asked to be the goalkeeper for my team but I declined because he was not too good. I decided to be the goalkeeper and the boy insulted me.

“My younger brother, Salam, who was at the field then cautioned the boy to stop insulting me since am not his age mate. Thereafter, the boys started threatening my brother and me, boasting they would come for us later.

“At night, after 8pm, they arrived at our residence about 12 of them with cutlass, knife and some of them holding sticks. They started looking for Salam who was at a chemist store watching television at the time. I quickly ran to him, called him out and urged him to go and hide in the room. But as soon as I came out, I saw my father advancing to the boys to ask them what could have gone wrong. They attacked him and he fell down, hitting his head on a stone.

“Even while my mother and all of us were battling to rescue my dad, these boys were still around threatening to deal with me and my brother. It was then my mother left my dad and went to report the case at Tunga Maje Police Station.”

The wife of the deceased, Habibat Tijani, said that the police officers at Tunga Maje were reluctant to follow her as they were afraid of the Koro Boys.

According to her, “Even the police officer that later followed me home saw that despite my husband’s condition, some of the boys were still around, threatening to do and undo. With the officer, we carried my husband to the station at Tunga Maje.

“There, they transferred the case to Zuba Divisional Police Headquarters and we carried my husband to the station in Zuba. It was in this process that my husband died.

Mrs. Tijani, who called on all well-meaning Nigerians to intervene in the matter, appealed to the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, to ensure that the killers of her husband were brought to justice in order to serve as a deterrent to others.

Some of the residents of the area, who spoke to our correspondent, described the late Tijani as a good, friendly and an easy-going man.

At the Zuba Police Station, the Investigating Police Officer (IPO) of the case, Officer Alhassan, popularly called Dan-Fulani, confirmed the case and described the incident as unfortunate.

When asked if any arrest has been made, he said the police are still on their trail of the attackers.

He said: “It is a case of homicide. We have to be careful on how we carry out the arrest so that the boys do not end up fleeing.”

All efforts made to see the DPO were unsuccessful. However, sources at the police station revealed that the village where the boys reside has been a serious concern to the police.

When our correspondent visited the late Tijani’s residence located at Angwa Bassa by New Poultry in Tunga Maje, the atmosphere in the area was enveloped by mourning as neighbours and other sympathisers thronged the residence to console the deceased’s family.

One of the sources described the area as den of criminals.

“Last Friday, two policemen were killed by the overhead bridge at that Tunga Maje. In fact, sometimes ago, those Koro boys threatened to burn down our station at Tunga Maje. So if we sweep on the village to arrest them, it may be dangerous. We want to go through their village chief and we are working on that,” the source said.

When contacted on telephone last Friday, the FCT Police Command PRO, Mr. Anjuguri Manzah, said although he was unaware of the case, the matter would be investigated.

Meanwhile, the late Tijani has since been buried in his home town, Ofejiji-Oganenugu, in Dekina Local Government Area of Kogi State on Thursday, April 6, 2017, in accordance with Islamic rites.