The Nigerian military has taken over the popular AYA-Kubwa highway, which gives access to the biggest housing estate in Africa, Gwarimpa, and leads to other parts of northern Nigeria.
The protesters were said to have started their demonstration peacefully in the morning, however, they later became violent and exploitative as the protest gathered momentum later in the day.
It was gathered that the protesters made up mostly of street urchins and criminals, started by blocking and molesting motorists on service lanes of the ten-lane highway, and subsequently extended the heinous trade to the centre of the road by blocking it and making bonfires and stopping motorists and extorting money from them.
They also brazenly ignored the presence of policemen and civil defence operatives and attacked motorists and passersby who did not pay them what they requested.
As the hoodlums blocked the highway and extorted motorists, they also beat up those who refused to part with cash.
The information immediately spread to the military authorities, who immediately dispatched troops and armoured trucks to take over the highway.
As the military forces arrived, they cut off the highway at Katampe roundabout with armoured trucks to check incoming and outgoing movement.
The military placed similar armoured trucks and personnel at different and strategic locations and pushed the mob away.
But the troops could not immediately clear the road of the huge stones, tree trunks and burnt tyres as well as other impediments which the hoodlums erected to stall free movement before the military arrived.
Protest: Military takes over FCT highway as hoodlums unleash violence on motorists
