The other side of Kaduna curfew

While married women see it as an opportunity to enjoy the presence of their spouses, the men said they need to go out to source for what the family will eat, and so on.   Many households also ran out of things such as bread, cooking items, fuel, etc. So when the Kaduna State government […]

While married women see it as an opportunity to enjoy the presence of their spouses, the men said they need to go out to source for what the family will eat, and so on.

 

Many households also ran out of things such as bread, cooking items, fuel, etc. So when the Kaduna State government relaxed the 24-hour curfew by four hours, residents trooped en mass to markets and filling stations to shop and buy fuel. The development led to an unusual trend. Buyers of various commodities in different markets have to queue to purchase what they need.

Shop owners take a certain number of customers at a time into their shops to avoid unpleasant situations. “As you can see, the crowd is very large. This is why we have to be very careful as miscreants can seize the opportunity to steal. I attend up to five people at a time while the rest remain on the queue.

“People were put into hardship by this curfew. Those you see in the markets are those who have money with them. I am sure there are thousands out there who don’t even have the money to come to the market. The government should consider this in order not to punish innocent citizens, because of the stupidity of others,” Malam Suleiman Aliyu, a trader in Sabon Gari, Zaria market said.

The same scenario obtained at the various filling stations of Kaduna and other towns of the state. The filling stations witnessed long queues as residents besieged them to buy fuel.

A buyer of petrol at a filling station in Unguwan Rimi, Kaduna said; “as you can see, everyone is rushing to buy fuel before the 4pm given by the government. In my view, this is what brought about the queues, especially for the past two to three days, residents were not allowed to move out of their houses.

“It is important if the government would review this curfew since normalcy has returned. The government can post security personnel to some flash points while they allow the generality of the citizens to go about their normal businesses. We are caged at home without government appreciating the fact that most of us earn our living on daily basis. Government should consider this because these past two days have been very difficult,” Malam Sani Danazumi, a resident of Kawo, said.

Meanwhile, calm can be said to have returned to Kaduna and its environs as there was no any report of violence in any part of the state yesterday.

Traditional rulers – Emirs of Zazzau, Alhaji Shehu Idris’ Birnin Gwari, Malam Jibril Maigwari, Jama’a, Alhaji Isa Muhammad and Lere, Alhaji Abubakar Garba Muhammad – respectively added their voices in the call for people to shun violence and live in peace with one another. The Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), Kaduna aired the calls of the traditional rulers at intervals yesterday.

It would be recalled that the Kaduna State government on Thursday night announced its decision to relax its 24-hour curfew yesterday and tomorrow by four hours.