The Federal Capital Territory Police Command, Abuja, has detained a man, Mukaddas Dan Kwaya, after he was cut with a cutlass by vigilante officials at the fruits market in the Zuba area of the FCT.
It was learnt that Kwaya was allegedly arrested for setting a market office ablaze in Zuba, Gwagwalada area.
Abubakar Ahmed Rufai, whose uncle was detained, confirmed this to SaharaReporters on Thursday.
Rufai said that the vigilante members had connived with the police to suffer Kwaya.
According to him, trouble began when some men collected his uncle’s phone to use as a torch but they refused to return it. This led to a brawl in the popular fruits market, Zuba.
“My brother was sitting when some of his friends came and they asked him to borrow them his phone so they could use the torch,” Rufai said.
He added, “He gave them. They ran away with the phone. Later in the day, he saw one of them and asked him about the rest of the boys. But the boy refused to tell him where they were. So, they fought there.
“After they had separated them, some security men in the fruit market in Zuba called them to settle the issue not knowing that one of the security officials in the market is a friend to the guys that stole the phone.
“When my brother was explaining what transpired, he did not know that they were all with arms. One of them removed a cutlass and cut my brother.”
Rufai went further to narrate that the security had bought the police to their side. He claimed the police detained his uncle without proper investigation.
“We rushed to the division and lodged the case before them. Our Investigating Police Officer told us to come the next day. Getting there the next day, the chairman of the market went to the Divisional Police Officer that we set fire to the office of the market.
“They arrested my uncle who was in the hospital with my brother, that he was among those that set the office ablaze. He’s in detention for no reason, no investigation.
“Please help, they have been threatening us that they can do anything to us and nothing will happen, that they have money. They beat and humiliate people without any reason. The market chairman had a meeting with the DPO to humiliate us, and they are cooking other allegations against us.”
