A mob of rampaging youths in Jalingo on Monday pelted Taraba Commissioner of Police, Mr David Akinremi, with stones, injuring him on the head.
The command’s spokesman, ASP David Misal, who confirmed the incident in Jalingo, said the commissioner had gone to the Tudun Wada area of the metropolis with a team of officers to restore normalcy following reports of youths unrest.
He said: “He was hit on the head with a stone resulting in serious bleeding before he was rushed to the hospital, where he was treated and discharged.
“Since yesterday, some irate youths, armed with dangerous weapons, including cutlasses, axes and other objects, started disturbing the peace of residents around Tudun Wada and Gadan Boboji areas of Jalingo town. Our men were deployed there and normalcy returned.
“However, this morning, we got reports that the boys had come out again in large numbers, brandishing weapons and attacking innocent citizens; the situation was so bad that the Commissioner of Police decided to go there himself with other officers.
“In the course of addressing the youths to calm them down, he was stoned in the head and was immediately rushed to hospital, where he was treated of his injuries.”
Misal warned that the command would not sit back and watch people take the laws into their hands by unleashing mayhem on innocent people. He confirmed that at least 60 persons had so far been arrested.
Jalingo, the state capital, has been experiencing breach of the peace in the past few weeks following frequent attacks on innocent citizens by thugs who moved around at night with dangerous weapons, dispossessing people of their belongings.
Meanwhile, commercial activities have been brought to a halt following the temporary closure of the Jalingo main market and major shops in the town.
