About 20 people have been arrested by the Kaduna State Police Command for their alleged roles in the religious crisis which rocked the Lere Local Government of the state last Thursday. During the violence, 48 inmates of the Saminaka Prisons escaped although 12 of them have been re-arrested by the police. Police Command Public Relations Officer [PPRO], Deputy Superintendent Sa��ad Yahaya who confirmed the incident told newsmen in Kaduna that the situation in Lere was however under control.
Yahaya said anti-riot policemen were quickly deployed to the area to forestall the breakdown of law and order even as he denied that any life was lost during the confusion.
�All is now calm in the town. The police have made 20 arrest and they would soon be arraigned in the court of law. The Federal Prison that was broken into has also been secured and all is now in order within the town and its environs�, he added.
The confusion according to reports started when two Muslim youths belonging to different sects in Raminkura of Lere Local Government area of Kaduna state, had a misunderstanding.
They were arguing on the desirability or otherwise of the Mandiri music in Islam when one of them alleged that the other had blasphemed the holy prophet Muhammad (PBUH).It was said that as the news spread, the district head of the area took the matter before the court but while a judge was presiding over the case, he was overwhelmed by the number of people at the court premises and decided to hand over the matter to the police.Sensing that the police had hidden the suspect inside the prison which was close to the police station inSaminaka, an angry mob forced it way into the prison which led to the escape of 48 inmates.
Kaduna state Commissioner of Information, Alhaji Hassan Adamu Shekarau had in an interview, said that the state government had quickly reacted to the incident by deploying about 150 mobile policemen and soldiers to the area.He said peace had since returned to Lere and advised people to go about their lawful business without fear of molestation.