By NDAHI MARAMA, Maiduguri
Five newspaper vendors arrested in Maiduguri during a police raid on their newspaper stands have been released on the orders of the Police Commissioner, Abdullahi Yuguda.
The vendors were arrested around Bolori Roundabout which was some few meters away from the official residence of Police Commissioner following reports that criminals posing as ‘’free readers,’’ converge at those points with the aim of causing havoc.
Mobile policemen Photo: Bunmi Azeez
Their release, however, followed the intervention of journalists in Maiduguri, the Borno state capital. The police had repeatedly warned idle youths, especially the physically challenged ones to vacate the area identified as black spots for criminals, but ‘’all the warning fell on deaf ears,’’ hence, the clampdown on them.
It was however learnt that during the raid, the five vendors whose names were given as Babagana Modu, Aliyu Uba, Musa Mushe, Sadiq Bukar as well as the chairman of their union, Musa Ali were arrested and detained.
Chairman, Yerwa Newspaper Distributors/Vendors Association, Borno State chapter, Mallam Bunu Umar had however, told reporters that the arrest of his members was unlawful and against their rights to freedom.
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