The people of Kano took to the streets Monday morning protesting violently against the alleged killing of a 17-year-old boy, Saifullahi, by the police on Sunday.
The protest hit the second most populous state in Nigeria after the Police unit called Anti-Daba reportedly brutalised the 17-year-old.
The Anti-Daba squad, a unit in the Police, formed by the state Police Command to combat thugs and thuggery in the state, was said to have been chasing a fleeing thug in the area where Saifullahi, a resident of Kofar Mata Babban Layi in the Kano Municipal area, was resting in front of his family house.
An eyewitness said the Police met Saifullahi while laying on his mattress, covered with mosquito net in order to have breeze due to hot weather.
Residents in the neighborhood said late Saifullahi was watching a movie on his mobile phone when the Anti-Daba squad pounced on him and beat him up on Sunday night.
His father, hearing his scream, came out to find out what happened, only to see his son being taken away by police officers to the Area Command.
On Monday morning, the police brought his corpse to the family house, triggering a spontaneous protest.
The angry neighbours, mostly male and female youths, took the corpse and dumped it at the entrance of the Area Command, about 500 meters away from Saifullahi’s family house.
Some of the protesters held placards with different inscriptions such as “We call on IGP. Area Command is killing us at Kofar Mata”, ”Justice for Saifullahi“, among others.
It took the intervention of some community elders to ensure that the protest did not degenerate into uncontrollable violence.
A resident of the area, who preferred not to be mentioned, expressed shock about the incident.
He described the deceased as a decent and innocent person who had never engaged in thuggery or criminality.
“Saifullahi is innocent. He had never had the experience of criminality. In fact, he had acute mental impairment. How do you expect such a person to engage in thuggery?
“We are tired of this brutality. Enough is enough. We call on the federal government to do justice on this young person’s death,” he said.
Police Spokesman in Kano, DSP Abdullahi Haruna Kiyawa, said the command was gathering information and would issue a statement later.
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