The suspects were accused of criminal trespass, mischief by fire, office breaking, belonging to an assembly of thugs, and theft of government properties.
The police have paraded 23 persons suspected to be involved in rioting in Tafa Local Government Area of Niger State during the #EndBadGovernance protest on Thursday, 1 August.
The suspects were paraded before journalists by the Commissioner of Police in the state, Shawulu Danmamman, at the police headquarters in Minna, the state capital, on Wednesday.
The suspects were accused of joint acts, criminal trespass, mischief by fire, office breaking, belonging to an assembly of thugs, and theft of government properties.
The police chief said the suspects were arrested during the nationwide protest.
"Unfortunately, on the same date, at about 1000 hrs, some miscreants from the Tafa area of Kagarko LGA in Kaduna State and the Sabon-Wuse Tafa and Hayin-Dikko Gurara areas of Niger State were said to have mobilised and stormed the Tafa LGA Secretariat of Niger State located along the Abuja-Kaduna motorway in Sabon-Wuse, Tafa LGA of Niger State," Mr Danmamman stated,.
"They looted office valuables such as computers, refrigerators, file cabinets, ceiling fans, chairs, television sets, and office burglaries. The police and other security agencies responded to the scene, and a total of twenty-three (23) suspects were arrested with different dangerous weapons. Others were dispersed from the scene, and most of the looted items were recovered, mostly from Kagarko in Kaduna State."
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He identified the suspects arrested at the scenes as Musa Umar, aged 24, Aliyu Ibrahim, aged 13, Shamsudeen Abdullahi, aged 25, Auwal Sanusi, aged 30, Isiyaku Sanusi, aged 10, Ahmed Muktar, aged 20, and Ashiru Abdullahi, a.k.a. Yellow, aged 10, all of Tafa, Kaduna State.
Others include Justice Danjuma, aged 19, Ismaila Aliyu aged 26, Aliyu Betara aged 24, Musa Sani aged 32, Yasir Ibrahim aged 13, Abdullahi Yusuf aged 26, Bakir Hussaini aged 15, Ahmad Jibrin aged 18, Abubakar Salisu aged 18, Yusufu Tijani aged 28, Lawal Abdullahi aged 35, Idris Sani aged 21, and Ibrahim Haruna aged 35, all of Sabon-Wuse, Tafa LGA, Niger State.
Also paraded were Ibrahim Nuhu, aged 18, and Abdulrahman Abubakar, aged 18, both of Hayin-Dikko, Gurara LGA, Niger State, and Saifullahi Usman, aged 24, of the Kano/Komboso area of Kano State.
Mr Danmamman listed items allegedly recovered from the suspects as wooden benches and office chairs, car side mirrors, extension wires, reflective jackets, ceiling fans, table calculators, laptops and generators, ceiling sheets, and office televisions.
He said the items were returned to the LGA Secretariat, while the suspects were transferred to SCID Minna for further investigation.
He said the suspects would be arraigned in court as soon as investigations were concluded.
Meanwhile, the police chief thanked Niger State residents, the youths and other stakeholders, including the state government, for their support towards ensuring that peace returned to the state.
"I urge all to continue to be law-abiding citizens and cooperate with security agencies to ensure that the remaining three days of the unknown group protest pass peacefully," he said.
