Hoodlums set cars, houses ablaze in Jos

Some hoodlums on Monday afternoon set several cars ablaze in the Bukuru metropolis, Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau State.

The hoodlums suspected to be anti-Jos city renewal drive of the state Governor, Caleb Mutfwang led administration were said to have attacked passersby on sight, injuring many in the process.

It was learnt that trouble started when some members of the Jos City Renewal Committee had gone to clear a site in the Bukuru community but were resisted by the hoodlum who attacked the officials.

The action of the hoodlums took residents by surprise and caused panic in the community as they went on a rampage burning cars and setting houses ablaze

A resident who witnessed the incident, Usman Ibrahim said on sighting the officials, the hoodlums started stoning them.

Usman said, “It was this afternoon in the Bukuru community around 2 pm. We saw some officials of the Jos Metropolitan Development Board as they arrived in 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 would not allow any project in the area. Before you knew it, they started burning cars parked along the road and attacking innocent passers-by.

“They also set some houses ablaze. So everybody started running and that is what happened. ”

It was learnt that the quick deployment of security agents to the community saved the situation from further degenerating.

Some residents who reacted to the incident condemned the action of the hoodlums.

They urged the government and the security agents to go after those trying to foment trouble and breach the peace in the city of Jos and other parts of the state to enable Plateau to make progress

The Spokesman for the state Police Command, Alabo Alfred, confirmed the incident.

Alfred said security operatives had been deployed to the affected community while the 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 caused the problem but we have started an investigation and we will let you know when we are done. But the situation is calm now”, the PPRO stated

The According reports that Mutfwang had earlier signed an Executive Order to control the illegal erection of buildings and traffic in the state.

The General Manager of JMDB, Hart Bankat said Executive Order No. 003, 2024 became imperative considering the indiscriminate manner in which buildings were being erected and traffic control abysmally degenerated within the Greater Jos Master plan as well the prevalence of building collapse in the state adding that its agency would ensure the implementation of the order its objectives a were achieved.