John Adams, Minna
Two people have been confirmed dead and no fewer than 15 others were crucially lying in the hospital following clash between APC supporters of two House of Representatives aspirants in Suleja, the headquarters of Suleja Local Government Area of Niger State ahead of Tuesday’s party primary.
Incumbent member, Hon. Lado Abubakar and new entrant, Ado Abubakar, are the two gladiators battling for the sole of the party ticket for Suleja/Tafa federal constituency under the platform of the APC for the 2019 election.
The clash was said to have started when the two aspirants were putting finishing touches to their campaign ahead of the tension soaked primary in Suleja.
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The two supporters came face to face with each other at the popular Dikko junction along Kaduna road when the fight broke out.
No less than 10 vehicles said to belonged to the aspirants were reportedly badly damaged during the fracas.
It was gathered that dangerous weapons including machetes, knives and daggers as well as charms were employed by thugs on both sides to inflict injuries on each other.
According source closed to the two warring factions, the initially feud was in the form of abuses by both supporters but later degenerated into a free for all fight during which the dangerous weapons were freely used resulting in people in the area scampering for their safety.
It was learnt that after the face-off two of the vehicles belonging to one of the aspirants with registration numbers ABUJA WAB 712 BY and ABUJA KWL 93 NW and three others without number plates destroyed were towed to the Police Area Commanders office in Suleja while another seven vehicles damaged in the fracas were still at Kaduna road where the fight broke out as at the time of filing this report.
According to the report those injured were rushed to the Suleja General Hospital where they were being attended to by nurses in the absence of doctors.
However, it was gathered that because of the severity of some of the cases a doctor had been summoned to attend to them.
Police Public Relations Officer of the Niger State command, DSP Muhammad Abubakar, when contacted confirmed the story.