Hoodlums on Thursday took advantage of the ongoing nationwide hardship protest as they set ablaze a Toyota Hilux belonging to the Anti-vandal Squad of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Katsina State.
LEADERSHIP gathered that an angry mob singing against bad governance, hunger and hardship attacked the Civil Defence Squad.
The squad had earlier been involved in an accident with a police armoured truck and were making an attempt to repair their punctured tyres when the vehicle was set ablaze.
The NSCDC officers, who were reportedly civil in performing their duties, fled the scene for their own safety and left behind their burning Hilux vehicle.
Our correspondent further gathered that three NSCDC officers were injured when the police armoured vehicle missed its way and collided with NSCDC’s parked vehicle.
The vehicle was set ablaze when hoodlums arrived where it was parked, after attempting to attack the officers who were trying to fix the damaged tyres but could not move the vehicle to safety.
NSCDC’s spokesperson, CSC Babawale Afolabi confirmed the incident in a phone conversation with LEADERSHIP.
He said that the officers who were injured in the accident were currently receiving treatment for their varying degrees of injuries.
He added that the refusal of his men to open fire on the hoodlums was borne out of their display of civility and professionalism.
“Our men understood that if they had reacted, it would have escalated to further destruction of critical national assets,” Afolabi said.
He further explained that the burnt vehicle was already in a poor condition which prevented the officers from driving away with it when they saw the armed protesters.
He said, “Our officers understood that any aggressive response would have led to more destruction of important and critical national assets and resources.”
