The ongoing nationwide protest against bad governance became violent in Kano on Thursday as as hoodlums hijacked it to vandalise, burn and loot properties.
One of the properties set ablaze was the Digital Industrial Park (DIP) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) for the northwestern region of Nigeria located along State Road.
The hudlums also set ablaze two vehicles parked at the State High Court premises.
Reports also indicated that the hoodlums smashed vehicle screens, snatched mobile phones from pedestrians among others.
The bus of Channels Television in Kano was also vandalised and its windscreen was smashed as violent protesters descended on journalists in the vehicle covering the protest.
Reacting to the burning of the NCC Centre, Centre, the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr. ‘Bosun Tijani, described it as millions of naira down the drain. has condemned the destruction of a technology hub, Nigeria Communication Commission Industrial Park in Kano.
He noted that the Park was designed to support Nigeria’s technical talent accelerator program (3MTT) and the looting comes just days before its scheduled launch.
In a post via X on Thursday, Tijani said he was “Sad to learn that our Digital Innovation Park in Kano slated for launch next week to support our technical talent accelerator (3MTT) has been set ablaze and looted by protesters.”
“Alongside #3MTT, this building is set to host our buildathon holiday maker programme for secondary school kids starting next week,” he added.
The minister characterised the damage as a setback for the journey to deepening the workforce for technology and creating job opportunities for the youth.
“Millions of Naira down the drain,” Tijani said.