Six feared killed as lovers clash over Kaduna lady

Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai

There was confusion in some parts of Kaduna on Wednesday following the killing of six over a girl palaver.

The incident occurred at the Badarawa Kwaru and Ungwan Yero, all in Kaduna North Local Government Area of the state.

Our correspondent gathered that six persons were feared killed while scores sustained varying degrees of injuries.

The Kaduna Command of the Nigerian Police Force confirmed the incident.

The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Zubairu Abubakar, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, said several suspects had been arrested in connection with the crisis.

But he never gave the casualty figure.

He said, “So many arrests were made, but I cannot tell you the number of people arrested until I find out from the office. However, calm has returned to the two communities.”

As of the time of this report on Wednesday, there was heavy presence of soldiers and police who forced residents of the area to remain indoor as several gunshots were fired into the air at interval.

Eyewitness accounts said the fight started between two men on Sunday night over a woman.

A source, who did not want his name mentioned, told our correspondent that a man from a neighbouring Kwaru community came on a motorcycle to Unguwar Yero to see his alleged concubine, who is the wife of a man in Unguwar Yero.

He said, “The woman was the girlfriend of the Kwaru man, who used to give her money when they were dating. But the lady in question married another person. But after their marriage, the lady and her ex-boyfriend were still dating.

“On that Sunday evening, the Kwaru man came as usual to look for his concubine. They met as usual, but the husband, who was already suspecting his wife, trailed her to where they were standing. So, when he accosted them, the Kwaru man stabbed his concubine’s husband in the stomach.

“The man later died before he could be rushed to the hospital. But what got people of the area angry was that, when Governor Nasir el-Rufai visited the place, he begged the people to be patient, without taking any action to bring the culprit to book.

“That was why Unguwar Yero people also started attacking people suspected to be Hausa-Muslim,” he said.

It was learnt that the governor was at Ungwan Yero to broker peace.

As of the time of filing this report, casualty figures remained six, according to an eye witness.