The violent clash between Christian and Muslim youths which led to the burning of churches and mosques in Kachia Local Government Area of Kaduna state on Sunday, took a new twist on Monday following the killing of four persons in the area.
The Chairman of the Local Government, Peter Agaite, who confirmed the deaths, said two of the victims were returning from their places of work when they were ambushed by hoodlums while the other two were reportedly shot dead by security operatives while they were trying to vandalise some shops in the area.
He however stated that normalcy has since returned to the town following the deployment of a combined team of officers drawn from the Nigerian Police, Nigerian Army and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).
However, when contacted on the incident, the Kaduna State Police Command Public Relations Officer, Aminu Lawan, said there was no death casualty recorded in the crisis.
A 24-hour curfew had been imposed on Kachia Local Government Area of Kaduna State after violent clashes on Sunday led to the burning down of places of worship.
The Curfew was imposed to avoid an escalation of the crisis into other parts of the state.
A resident of the town told Channels Television that the crisis erupted on Sunday morning when they woke up and discovered that a portion of the fence of the Muslim Eid praying ground had been demolished by unknown persons, suspecting that members of a nearby church were responsible for the continuous damage of the prayer ground, some Muslim youth decided to take revenge by descending on the church and demolished it too.
The state governor, Mukhtar Yero, called on the people of the area and environs to remain calm and shun any attempt by enemies of peace to escalate misunderstanding as government had brought the situation under control.
The governor in a statement signed by his media aide, Ahmed Maiyaki, called on all residents of Kachia to avoid taking laws into their own hands.
“Government is already working with all security agencies to ensure the protection of lives and property,” he said.
Governor Yero assured the people that security agencies had already commenced investigations into the cause of the crisis and will not spare anyone found culpable no matter their status in the society.
“We will no longer tolerate these acts of unwarranted violence against innocent citizens, enough is enough,” the Governor said.
