A man identified as Shuaibu Yushau, who climbed a mast to protest the subsisting hardship in the country on Monday, has been arrested by the operatives of the Federal Capital Territory Police Command at Katampe in Abuja.
PUNCH Metro gathered on Monday that Yushau was handed over to the police after he was convinced by the emergency responders and concerned citizens to come down from the mast.
According to a suicide note he dropped at the foot of the mast, Yushau demanded the return of the abrogated fuel subsidy regime, among others, for the government to alleviate the burdens on Nigerians.
Confirming his arrest, the spokesperson for the FCT Police Command, Josephine Adeh, disclosed in a statement obtained by our correspondent that Yusuf was stopped from committing suicide and he was convinced to come down from the mast and thereafter was arrested.
“Following a distress call from concerned citizens about a young man who climbed a very high mast with a placard at Aso Radio in Katampe at about 09:10 a.m, the operatives of the FCT Police Command swiftly mobilised to the location.
“With much professional persuasion from the police operatives, the man later identified as Shuaibu Yushau was prevented from taking his own life.
“He claimed to have been observing the mast for about a week before deciding to climb it. The suspect is presently in police custody and a stable condition.”
The FCT Fire Service spokesperson, Ibrahim Tauheed, in a telephone interview with our correspondent, also stated that after several hours of appeals from emergency responders, Yusuf came down from the mast and was arrested by the police.
“The FCT Fire Service, in conjunction with the FCT Emergency Service, has finally convinced the man attempting suicide to come down. He has come down from the mast finally and has been handed over to the police.”
“The FCT Fire Service is a fire and rescue organisation. Our job is to make sure that if anyone is threatening to take their own life, we will go and rescue the person. Although cases like this are rare, they keep happening, and if they keep happening, we are always on standby to rescue anyone whose life is on the line. It is part of our job.”
PUNCH Metro gathered that the suicide note Yusuf dropped at the foot of the mast read, “These are the major Nigerian problems, and I’m ready to sacrifice my life for the solution to them. I am calling fellow Nigerians to join me in this riot.
“On behalf of fellow Nigerians, I demand the following: ‘Government should return fuel subsidy.
“Government should declare a state of emergency in Zamfara, Sokoto, Kebbi, Katsina, Kaduna, Niger, and Borno on insecurity matters and take immediate action to clear terrorism in the above-listed states and the country at large.
“The government should open borders for food importation to eradicate food shortages in the country.
“Government should immediately respond to the problem of out-of-school children, which is increasing rapidly.”
Yusuf further stated in another note that the economic hardship and the level of insecurity in the country had lasted for a long, and there seemed to be no feasible solution.
“It’s long enough!!! Long enough for the government to stand by and do nothing while Boko Haram bandits and kidnappers are killing people in the country every day.
“Long enough for citizens to continue suffering from hunger.
“Long enough for the inflation rate to continue to rise rapidly
“Long enough for the number of out-of-school children to continue increasing.
“Long enough for me to keep quiet. Justice for masses.”
