The Niger State Police Command has initiated a major manhunt for the accused hoodlums who fatally stabbed a guy merely identified as Abdulmutalib, who was in his early 30s.
According to our correspondent, the hoodlums carry hazardous weapons and steal phones and valuables from Niger residents.
On Tuesday, an eyewitness reported that the man died before help arrived to transfer him to a local hospital.
The unfortunate incident occurred on Sunday around 8 p.m. on the Old Secretariat Road, while the victim was walking with his mobile phone inside his jeans pocket.
According to an eyewitness who did not provide his identity, the phone-snatching hoodlums stabbed Abdulmutalib after confronting him and demanding his phone.
“The phone snatchers were all young men in their teens and early 20s. The incident happened on Sunday night. They met him and demanded his phone and before he could react, one of them used a dagger he was holding and stabbed him in the neck. They fled from the area with the phone. Abdulmutalib died before people could come to his rescue,” the eyewitness said.
Another citizen, Suleiman Kuta, expressed displeasure at the entry of phone snatchers into the state capital, claiming that the state government and police leadership were not doing enough to rid the state of such undesirable people.
“These hoodlums are taking over Minna City. Every day, you hear of attacks, phone snatching and youth restiveness. On safety and security matters, nobody seems to be in charge. Residents are at the mercy of these criminals whose identities are public knowledge yet the authorities are pretending about their activities.
“I’m beginning to think that the authorities are helpless in this regard. The Niger State Police Command amongst other security agencies needs to step up its game to address this ugly trend that is fast consuming the peace of the city.
“We must begin to ask questions about why the authorities are doing nothing in matters that concern the security of life and property The Bago administration will be considered a failure if the insecurity situation continues to rise in this manner.”
Hoodlums, particularly young males seeking for unsuspecting people’ phones to grab, have surged in Minna, Niger State’s capital. In a recent incident, hoodlums attacked a young man and slashed him with a dagger for refusing to surrender his phones for them, among other things.
