Angered by what they described as extremely poor representation, some people in Talasse, Balanga Local Government Area of Gombe State on Monday pelted the cars in Senator Joshua Lidani’s convoy with stones in a wild protest.
It took the intervention of a combined force of mobile Police and the Military to disperse the rampaging protesters and rescue the Senator who was held hostage in the Palace of the Bala Waja (traditional ruler of the area), Alhaji Danjuma Mohammed.
The State Police Commissioner, Mr. Tairu Olukolu confirmed the incident to newsmen in a phone interview.
He said: “Senator Joshua Lidani was at the Bala Waja’s palace to felicitate with the royal father when some youth who alleged that they are unsatisfied with his representation, barricaded the palace and denied him exit demanding explanation from him on his representation at the Senate.
“To avoid break down of law and order, security operatives were dispatch to the palace and they have successfully escorted him out of the town unhurt,” he said.
CP Olukolu said after the incident normalcy had since returned to the town with people going about their activities.
Senator Lidani who is representing Gombe South at the Senate, was in Talasse to inspect classroom projects when hundreds of youth stormed the Bala Waja’s Palace and held the senator hostage.
Some residents of the town who spoke to our correspondent on condition of anonymity, said Senator Lidani visited the town to supervise a building project he awarded at the Community College of Arabic and Islamic Studies, Talasse when the angry youth attacked him.
According to the source, “The youth stormed the palace when they learnt that Senator Lidani was in town. They want explanation on what he was doing for them for the past seven years he was at the Senate.
“They pelted stones on his motorcade and later laid siege at the Bala Waja’s palace waiting for him to come out and explain to them” he said.
According to another witness, since his election in 2015, he never visited the town or brought any constituency project to them, with the exception of three blocks of classrooms that he built at the college.
Another resident of the town told our correspondent on phone that, it took a combined effort of soldiers and mobile policemen to be able to evacuate the senator from the palace to safety.
“A combined team of mobile policemen and soldiers who stormed the palace in seven trucks were able to escort him safely from the Bala Waja’s palace and he escaped unhurt,” the source said.
