Soldiers opened fire, on Thursday, when suspected hoodlums hijacked trailers loaded with foodstuff in the Suleja Area of Niger State.

Alhassan Abdullahi, a witness, told our correspondent 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 food stuffs, especially rice, were stolen before soldiers arrived the scene.

“It took intervention of soldiers who arrived the scene and started firing gun shots 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.”

“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 said.

The development comes amid the nationwide hardship that has triggered protests in different parts of the country.

On February 16, leadership of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) declared a two-day nationwide mass protest for February 27 and 28 .

Joe Ajaero, NLC president, stated this at Labour House, Abuja, during an emergency session.

Ajaero said the decision to protest was taken after the expiration of the 14-day ultimatum earlier issued to the Federal Government over the nationwide hardship.

Daily Trust reports that the ultimatum was issued to press the demands for reforms to address the current hardship being faced by Nigerians.

Last week, the Sultan of Sokoto and Chairman of the Northern Traditional Rulers Council, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, expressed fear that with millions of Nigerian youths left without jobs and food, Nigeria is sitting on a keg of gunpowder.

Speaking at the 6^th Executive Committee Meeting of the Northern Traditional Rulers Council yesterday in Kaduna, the Sultan said the economic hardship in Nigeria had reached a level where citizens were agitated, angry and hungry.

He said: “We have now entered into a new cycle of leadership. Some new governors have come on board, while some are having their second term and still, we are faced with these insecurity issues.

“To make matters worse, we are faced with the rising level of poverty. Most of our people lack normal sources of livelihood.

“However, I believe talking about insecurity and the rising level of poverty are two issues that we cannot fold our arms and think everything is okay. I have said it so many times and at so many for a that things are not okay in Nigeria and of course, things are not okay in the North.”

Two days earlier, the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero, had decried the ravaging hunger and starvation in the land, asking First Lady Remi Tinubu, who visited him to discuss the plight of Nigerians with her husband. (Daily Trust)

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