Crowd Chaos: Halima Loses Phone, Handbag to Snatchers During Tinubu’s Visit to Jigawa

By Hotpen

DUTSE — Phone snatchers had a field day on Tuesday as they made brisk business robbing people of their phones at the President Tinubu campaign rally in Dutse, the Jigawa State capital.

The worst hit was APC Jigawa North Central Senatorial Aspirant, Amb. Halima Suleiman Zakari, who lost her iPhone 17 Pro Max and handbag to the snatchers amid the mammoth crowd that converged to welcome President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

President Tinubu, on his first official working visit to Jigawa State since assuming office in May 2023, commissioned the Bola Ahmed Tinubu Multipurpose Skills Acquisition Centre, the Renewed Hope Technical Services Centre, the dualised Garu Road leading to the Emir of Dutse’s palace, and flagged off the distribution of 400 tractors and 60 combine harvesters.

But while thousands of APC supporters, party leaders, aspirants and well-wishers jostled for space to catch a glimpse of the President, suspected criminals were said to have taken advantage of the confusion and the surging crowd.

Eyewitnesses said the snatchers, operating in groups, swooped on unsuspecting supporters, snatching phones and handbags before disappearing into the crowd.

It was gathered that many rally attendees also lost their phones to the snatchers, who operated freely despite the heavy deployment of security operatives by the Jigawa State Police Command, comprising the Police, Army, NSCDC and DSS at strategic locations across Dutse.

Eye witness told Hotpen that for Amb. Halima, the moment she noticed her bag had been snatched, her face wore a gloomy look, a clear sign of anger and annoyance.

It added that eyewitnesses, aspirant Halima was visibly shaken and upset as she realised that her iPhone 17 Pro Max and handbag, said to contain personal items and other valuables, were gone.

“The crowd was too much. Before she could even shout, they had already taken the phone and the bag and vanished. It was very unfortunate,” one eyewitness said.

Irked by what happened to her at the venue, Halima was said to have immediately after the event rushed to the airport and flew back to Abuja, while several people who were waiting for her in anticipation of her kind gesture were left in disarray.

Sources said many of her supporters and well-wishers, who had waited patiently for hours to see her after the rally, were left disappointed and confused as she left Dutse without meeting them.

As at the time of filing this report, efforts to get the reaction of the aspirant and the Police Public Relations Officer were still ongoing.

The incident has once again raised concerns over the rising activities of phone snatchers and pickpockets at large political rallies and public gatherings in the state, with residents calling on security agencies to intensify surveillance at such events to protect law-abiding citizens.