There was confusion on Thursday in some parts of Narayi, Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State after some irate youths set ablaze a church and a police outpost.
The youths, it was learnt, set ablaze a branch of the Celestial Church of God as well as a police outpost in Narayi, while protesting the death of a mason, Friday Sylvester, who was working for the pastor of the church, Babatunde Shittu.
The youths, it was learnt, accused Shittu of having a hand in Sylvester’s death.
Livid with anger, they descended on the church and razed it while the pastor ran to the nearby police station to take refuge.
But the youths were not done as they went to the police station to demand that the pastor be handed over to them.
The refusal of the police to release Shittu led the youths to regroup at about 4am on Thursday to set the police station ablaze.
The Kaduna Police Public Relations Officer, Mukhtar Aliyu, a Superintendent of Police, who confirmed the incident, said security had been beefed up in the area.
He said about five persons had been arrested in connection with the incident.
He also said the Commissioner of Police in the state, Austin Iwar, had ordered investigation into the incident.
Meanwhile, the Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, has condemned the burning of the church and the police outpost.
He said it was wrong and illegal for anyone or group to take the laws into their own hands.
A statement by the governor’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mr. Samuel Aruwan, said, “It is wrong and illegal for anyone or group to take the law into their own hands, Governor Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai said on Thursday, as he condemned the burning of a church and police station.
“The governor also ordered an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of the labourer, whose demise allegedly prompted the riotous conduct, as well as the apprehension of all those who partook in or enabled the acts of arson.”