From Femi Oyelola, kaduna
Kaduna metropolis was yesterday thrown into confusion as an unknown soldier allegedly stabbed a shoe seller to death.
The sad incident happened at the popular Sheikh Abubakar Gumi Central Market in Kaduna.
Eyewitness said the soldier narrowly escaped being lynched as the traders, especially the youths descended and gave him the beating of his life.
The incident forced traders in the market to scamper to safety while others who didn’t know what was happening ran helter skelter.
The Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Yakubu Sabo confirmed the incident to our correspondent on the phone.
An eyewitness, who simply identified himself as Lawal said trouble started when the deceased trader, approached the soldiers to market his products – shoes.
He said no one could say for sure what actually transpired between the soldiers and the shoe seller (trader) but that the soldier suddenly pulled out his knife (jack knife) and stabbed the trader on his stomach and the left hand side of the chest. And blood gushed out!
According to him, “immediately traders saw what happened they pursued and held the one (soldier) that stabbed the trader (boy) and was thoroughly beaten.”
The Secretary of the Sheikh Gumi Central Market Union, Alhaji Aliyu Shuaibu (Fancy), who also confirmed the incident, said the soldier was rescued and taken to an undisclosed hospital in the metropolis.
He said immediately the incident occurred, the market officials, not wanting the incident to escalate, put a phone call to security officials, including the State Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Mr. Samuel Aruwan, whose prompt intervention averted what would have been described as another bout of crisis in the state.
