A marriage proposal gone awry resulted in a communal clash in Shani local government area of Borno state, leaving several injured and prompting a heavy police intervention.

Security sources told Zagazola Makama that the incident, which occurred on June 11, 2025, was triggered when a young man, Mamaru from Kubo, accompanied by his friends, visited Bargu community to propose marriage to Babaliya Hassan, 17, a resident of the area.

According to sources, Babaliya laid a mat in front of her father’s compound to enable the couple’s families to celebrate their union. However, some youths from Bargu opposed the marriage, insisting that outsiders should not take their women. This opposition escalated into a physical confrontation, forcing Babaliya to rush back into her compound while Mamaru and his friends retrieved their mats.

The situation appeared to calm down, but when the owners came back for their mats, Babaliya, in a show of resentment, allegedly used a pestle to attack Muhammad Isa, causing him grievous injuries, while another person, Shuaibu Ali, sustained minor injuries in the process.

The following day, which fell on Bargu’s market day, the incident further spiralled into a communal conflict when youths from Kubo, upon learning about their friends’ injuries, came to Bargu on motorcycles in a suspected retaliatory attack. The conflict resulted in extensive chaos, during which a man, Friday Lado, who was riding toward the scene on his red boxer motorcycle, was attacked by Bargu youths, and his bike was set ablaze. In a show of resistance, the Bargu youths impounded six additional motorcycles belonging to the Kubo youths. The conflict also injured a woman, Rukayya Buba, who was caught in the fracas.

It was further gathered that the Borno State police Command, through its crack squad tactical team, responded promptly, restored normalcy, and evacuated the injured victims to Shani General Hopsital for treatment. Following their recovery, the injured were discharged, while the impounded motorcycles were handed over to the Shani division for safekeeping. (Zagazola: Text, Excluding Headline)