By Nurat Uthman
Some suspected hoodlums on Saturday attacked the palace of Etsu Lokoja, HRH Emmanuel Akamisoko Dauda-Shelika, Nyamkpa IV, and burnt his vehicle and properties within the premises.
The palace which is located on plot 306, New Layout, Lokoja, was allegedly attacked by hoodlums at about 1:00 am on Saturday, who burnt his vehicles while the monarch narrowly escaped by scaling the fence.
Our reporter gathered that Nupe Natives of Lokoja Development Union were planning to host the 2nd Edition of Nupe Natives end of the year event, tagged: “Lokoja ’24 Nupe Cultural Fiesta”, on Dec. 21, 2024, before the incident occurred.
The event was, however, aborted due to the unfortunate attack, when many Nupe natives from neighbouring states had started arriving on the eve of the event
Narrating his ordeal to our correspondent who visited the scene on Monday, the monarch said: “It was around 1 am at night that I had a big bang on my door and I woke up to check through the window, wondering what could have happened.
“Then, I suddenly saw wildfire coming out of my car as it had been set ablaze by attackers. I knew it was an attack on the palace, and therefore I could not come out because of fear of being attacked. So, I managed to come out through the back door and scaled the fence to escape for my life.
“Thereafter, I came out to the road and realised that all my neighbours in the community were on the ground trying hard to quench the fire, but unfortunately the car was burnt, as well as other properties inside it.”
Dauda-Shelika appealed to the government and security agencies to investigate the cause of the attack and bring the perpetrators and their sponsors to justice.
He, however, appealed to the Nupe natives in Lokoja, to avoid any form of reprisal but continue to remain peaceful, and law-abiding and allow government and security agencies to conduct thorough investigations on the attack.
“We are appealing to His Excellency, Alhaji Ahmed Usman Ododo, and security agencies to please use their good offices to investigate this unfortunate incident and bring to justice whoever is concerned whether directly or indirectly.
“We also want the government to kindly visit our issues by recognising and grading the stool of Etsu Lokoja which had been in existence before colonisation. By officially recognising and grading the Etsu Lokoja stool, we know everything will be laid to rest because that is the power of the government.
“If the government remain silent and looks away, it leaves the door open for this kind of thing to happen. And as a people, we will not want to see such things continue to happen. I urge my people to remain as peaceful and law-abiding as we have always been because this incident has drawn the attention of the government to our issue,” Dauda-Sheika added.
He noted that the Executive Chairman of Lokoja LGA and his security apparatus came for an on-the-spot assessment that Saturday morning as well as the Police, DSS and NSCDC.
He added, “The DPO, ‘A’ Division was also here with his men upon hearing the incident to ascertain what actually happened. They all condemned the ugly incident in strong terms. We have also been invited to the Police station and we have written our statement.
