Soldiers open fire as hoodlums hijack trucks and steal food items in Niger State

There was pandemonium on Thursday, February 22, 2024, as soldiers opened fire when suspected hoodlums hijacked trailers loaded with foodstuff in the Suleja area of Niger State.

A witness, Alhassan Abdullahi, told the Daily Trust that many trailers coming from Abuja and heading for Kaduna were blocked by the hoodlums who burnt tyres on the road.

He said many bags of foodstuff, especially rice, were stolen before soldiers arrived at the scene.

“It took intervention of soldiers who arrived at the scene and started firing gunshots in the air to scare the hoodlums away. But even with that, many of them went away with bags of rice and cartons of spaghetti and other food items,” he said. 

“We learnt commercial motorcycle riders are also planning a protest. They would have done it since yesterday but we didn’t know what stopped them,” he added.