One hundred and ten people suspected of involvement in last Sunday's Easter Day disturbances at Gwada in Shiroro local government area of Niger State were arraigned by the police before a Magistrate's Court sitting in Minna yesterday.

Twelve of the suspects are from Minna while 89 were from Gwada. They were charged for inciting and causing public disturbance, mischief and theft.

The accused all pleaded not guilty to the charges but the presiding magistrate ordered them to be remanded in prison until April 28 for further hearing on the matter.

Meanwhile, it was confirmed that two churches, the Holy Trinity Gospel church and the Ebenezer Baptist church, as well as two cars parked at the premises of the Holy Trinity church, were vandalized inthe mayhem.

Police said the attack was carried out at two locations. The first phase was led by one Sule Usman who it is alleged used his motorcycle to disrupt the Boys Brigade band procession. It was also alleged that he used his mobile phone to call others who later joined him to disperse the band procession.

Iwa Galadima, narrating their ordeal, said after the band members took to their heels during the attack, the mob used the opportunity to destroy the band set and other things that belonged to the fleeing group.

He said if they had not taken to their heels when they did, the attacking group which was well armed with weapons of different calibrations would have maimed of even killed some of them.

The second phase of the attack was directed at the churches where the mob destroyed all that they could find. The skirmish at Gwada later spilled over into Minna township where a mob attempted to disrupt church service at the First Baptist church located at Bosso area of the state capital.

Meanwhile the Niger state governor Dr Muazu Aliyu, who reacted in a press release signed by the Director General Media and Public Affairs, Malam Bala Ibrahim Abdulkadir, condemned the violence at Gwada, saying those behind the skirmish will not go unpunished. The full wrath of the law will be invoked on all involved, he said.

He called on well meaning people of Niger state to condemn the action, saying that there can't be meaningful development in the absence of peace. He admonished religious and traditional leaders in the state to be on their guard to curb any such occurrences, as it is capable of spilling over to other places with grave consequences.