Angry youths stoned Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State when he went to Unguwar Yero, a suburb of the state capital, on Sunday night in a failed bid to broker peace after a fight over a woman escalated, a report from the area said.

The report, by the Abuja-based The AUTHORITY, quoted an eyewitness as saying: “When the Governor arrived the area, the angry youths didn’t even allow him to speak; they just started chanting ‘bama so’, meaning, ‘we don’t want’”.

The report said that Governor El-Rufai’s intervention came after a fight over a woman between two neighboring communities of Badarawa Kwaru and Unguwar Yero in Kaduna North Local Government Area of the state has turned bloody.

“Not fewer than six persons have lost their lives since the eruption of fight on Sunday night, while several others have sustained various degree of injuries. As at the time of filing this report Wednesday afternoon, there is heavy presence of Police and soldiers as residents remain indoor.

Several gunshots were fired into the air at interval,” the report said.

It quoted eyewitnesses as disclosing that the fight started between two men on Sunday night over a woman – after a man from Kwaru community came on motorbike to Unguwar Yero to see his alleged concubine who, incidentally, is a wife of a man in Unguwar Yero.

According to an eyewitness, “The woman was in a relationship with the man from Kwaru when she was a girl and used to give her money when they were dating. The lady in question married another person. But after their marriage, the lady and her former boyfriend were still going out.

“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 kicked his bike and stabbed the man from Kwaru in the stomach.

“The man later died before he could be rushed to the hospital. But, what got people of the area angry is that, the Governor later came begging the people to be patient without taking action to bring the culprit to book.

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

The report said that after Governor El-Rufai’s visit, the crisis started taking religious and ethnic dimensions since Monday, as groups from the neighboring Kwaru and Unguwar Yero resorted to attacking people identified as members of the opposite ethnic or religious group.

“As at Wednesday morning, tension had risen again, as youths suspected to be of Kwaru extraction stormed Ghana Road area of Malali and Unguwar Yero, attacking two traders, one of whom is feared dead,” the report said.

•Photo shows Governor El-Rufai.

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