Several cars were set ablaze in the Bukuru metropolis of Jos South Local Government Area in Plateau state by hoodlums on Monday afternoon. The hoodlums, suspected to be against the Governor Caleb Mutfwang-led administration’s Jos city renewal drive, also attacked passersby, causing injuries.
The chaos began when members of the Jos city Renewal Committee were met with hostility by the hoodlums while trying to clear a site in the Bukuru community.
A resident of the Bukuru community ,Usman Ibrahim confirmed the development while condemning the action of the hoodlums
Usman said “It was this afternoon in Bukuru community around 2pm ..We saw some officials of the Jos Metropolitan Development Board as they arrived the community and moved to a site which they earlier cleared before .
“As soon as they began to mark the site ,some hoodlums emerged and started throwing stones at the officials and said they will not allow any project in the area. Before you knew it,they started burning cars parked along the road and attacking innocent passers-by . I saw about 10 cars burnt by the hoodlums near a supper market .They also set some houses ablaze . So everybody started running and that is what happened “
Security agents were deployed to the community to prevent the situation from escalating further. Residents condemned the actions of the hoodlums and called on the government and security agents to apprehend those responsible for disrupting the peace in Jos and other parts of the state.
The Spokesman for the Plateau state Police Command,Alabo Alfred ,confirmed that security operatives had been deployed to the affected community while investigation had commenced
“Yes,we are aware of the incident in Bukuru .Our men have been deployed to the community . I can not tell you what really caused the problem but we have started investigation and we will let you know when we are done. But the situation is calm now”,the PPRO stated
Governor Caleb Mutfwang had previously signed an Executive Order to regulate the illegal construction of buildings and traffic in the state.
The General Manager of JMDB, Hart Bankat, emphasized the importance of the executive order in controlling the haphazard construction and traffic issues within the Greater Jos Master plan and preventing building collapses. The agency vowed to enforce the order until its objectives were achieved.