By Wole Mosadomi, Minna.

Minna- What looked like a peaceful protest embarked upon by fish vendors in Suleja, headquarters of Suleja local government area of Niger state was yesterday hijacked by irate youths who started stealing foodstuffs from any passing Trucks loaded with any edibles along Abuja-Suleja-Kaduna ever busy Highway.

The protest was said to have started around 10 am peacefully before it was joined by others and incidentally hijacked by irate youths.

The massive looting of the vehicles was made easily possible because the youths blocked the Highway which led to traffic holdup or standstill.

Our Correspondent reliably gathered that even small vehicles ferrying fruits like watermelon, pineapple, oranges among others were stopped and the items stolen to their satisfaction.

The fish sellers were said to be protesting over frequent hikes in prices of frozen fish which of late rose from N34,000 to N48,000 which they said had slowed down their business.
An eyewitness told our Correspondent that no life was lost nor was their any casualty during and after the protest.

“The protesters were peaceful but the irate youths cashed on the hunger in town to steal food from any passing vehicle.

“They got whatever they wanted, some hid them and came back jubilating but the quick intervention of the Police saved the situation from degenerating into further breakdown of Law and Order,” one Abubakar declared.

Youths in Suleja had attempted to embark on a similar protest two weeks ago but were stopped due to the quick intervention of some Elders in the town and were shelved but promised to stage a comeback.

When contacted, the Spokesman of the state Police Command, DSP Wasiu Abiodun confirmed the protest but said there was no hijack of Trucks by the hoodlums.

“There was a protest this morning along Kaduna-Abuja road but the protesters did not communicate with the police. 

“It was later discovered that miscreants had taken over the protest by stealing food items from vehicles held up in traffic but there was nothing like “hijack of Trucks  by anybody.”
“The area commander Suleja, ACP Sani Musa quickly mobilized patrol teams to the scene, dispersed the protesters and the highway has now been cleared for free flow of traffic but we are still keeping vigil on the area,” the PPRO remarked.

The Police were also joined by the military men to bring normalcy to the area.