Mob burnt down a vehicle suspected to belong to kidnappers at kawo in Kaduna, When the identity of the man who raised the false alarm at the Kawo flyover in Kaduna was revealed, many of his neighbours were surprised that he was the one at the centre of the drama that led to the death of three persons.
The police said Alhaji Musa Imam was trying to get away from some of his friends who had come from Lagos to get him to report to the police in line with a bail agreement he had signed before coming to Kaduna when he decided to play a fast one on them.
The three friends had stood surety for Imam before he was released from police detention in Lagos, but he failed to present himself to the police as expected when the period expired. The police said those investigating his case threatened to arrest the three persons that stood surety for him; hence the trio decided to come to Kaduna and plead with him to honour the agreement. But on seeing them, Imam refused to stop.
The report stated that when Imam saw that his three friends were pursuing him in their car, he got down from his vehicle at the ever busy Kawo flyover in Kaduna and began screaming that the men trailing him were kidnappers. The crowd at the bridge then moved to save him by preventing the men from taking him.
They dragged one of them out of the car and started hitting him on the head. The two others ran to a nearby filling station for safety, but the driver of the vehicle was not lucky as the mob set fire on the vehicle with him inside. When the police arrived the scene and made to save the other two men, the mob, who insisted that the men were kidnappers, would not let them.
They wanted to snatch them from the police, and in the process, three persons were shot. Two of them later died. Most of the people who know Imam said that though he is barely literate, he is a successful businessman. According to them, he is into oil and gas and travels to the southern part of the country frequently. He is said to be one of the wealthiest people in the Kawo New Extension neighbourhood. He lives in a mansion with his family.
Those close to him said he is not on the social media and does not engage his phone beyond making and receiving calls. One of his neighbours, who owns a shop at Kawo New Extenýsion, described him as a peace-loving individual. He said the man had lived in the community for almost 10 years. He added that Alhaji Imam has three wives and children. “I have been doing my business in this street for more than six years. And we met him here.
Honestly, I can’t say anything bad about his behaviour because he is a nice fellow. Each time he passes by he always waves at us. Most times we don’t even see him coming, yet he waves to greet. “Alhaji Imam’s three wives are all living with him. One of his wives usually comes to our shop too. In fact, I have never seen him having disagreement with anybody in the area. This is all I know and can say about him as a neighbour,’’ he said. Asked how he felt when he heard that Alhaji Imam raised the false alarm which led to the killing of three people in the area, he said, “To be honest with you, I was shocked when I heard the news because I never expected that from him, if at all he did it.’’
He said it’s not true that Alhaji Musa Imam’s house was attacked by an angry mob on that day. “These are all lies. Nothing happened to his house, as you can see for yourself. No car was destroyed; in fact, nobody came to attack the house. If such a thing happened I would know since we are neighbours and we are always here doing our business,’’ he said. Another shop owner who wouldn’t want his name mentioned said they were reluctant to speak with strangers because of the situation. “Oga, you know how this country is, that is why we are a bit reluctant to speak with you on this issue.
We just heard that the police raided the scene where the incident occurred and arrested some people. “But the truth is that we know him (Alhaji Imam) because he always passes in front of our shop to his house or when going out. ýWe are doing our business here and the man always waves at us when passing. The whole thing is confusing,’’ he said.