A tragic phone snatching incident in Minna, Niger State, has left a young man, identified as Abdulmutalib, dead.
The 30-year-old was stabbed to death by a group of hoodlums on Sunday night along Old Secretariat Road while they attempted to steal his mobile phone.
Eyewitnesses reported that the attack occurred around 8 p.m. Abdulmutalib was walking when the assailants, believed to be in their teens and early 20s, confronted him. They demanded his phone, and before he could respond, one of them stabbed him in the neck with a dagger.
An eyewitness, who wished to remain anonymous, said, “The phone snatchers didn’t wait for him to react. One of them just stabbed him and they ran off with his phone. By the time people came to help, he was already dead.”
Residents of Minna have expressed growing fear over the rising crime in the city, especially incidents involving phone snatching. Suleiman Kuta, a local resident, voiced his frustration: “These hoodlums are taking over Minna. Every day, there are reports of attacks and phone snatching. The authorities seem powerless, and nothing is being done to stop them.”
Kuta criticized the Niger State government and the police for not taking stronger action to address the security issue. “If this continues, people will start losing confidence in the Bago administration. The government must act now to protect lives and property,” he warned.
The Niger State Police Command initially did not respond to inquiries, but by Tuesday morning, the police spokesperson, Wasiu Abiodun, confirmed the incident. “The victim was rushed to General Hospital, Minna, where he was confirmed dead. The case is under investigation, and efforts to catch the suspects are ongoing,” Abiodun said in a brief statement.
