Some women from Billiri town of Billiri Local Government Area in Gombe state on Friday barricaded the Gombe to Yola highway, trapping passengers traveling along the road.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the women, who painted their faces in black colour, are protesting the perennial clashes between neighboring communities in Billiri, Shongom and Kaltungo Local Government Areas of the state.
A NAN Correspondent who was one of the passengers trapped by the protesting women while on transit to Yola, said passengers in no fewer than 500 commercial and private vehicles were stranded, creating a grid lock on the road.
A resident of Billiri town who spoke to NAN on condition of anonymity, said schools in the town had to be hurriedly closed as a result of the protest.
Gombe State Police Command’s spokesperson, DSP Mary Malum, confirmed the incident, adding that a team of mobile police had been deployed to the area to ensure that normalcy returned.
As at 3pm Friday, the road that was blocked around 10 am, was yet to be opened to traffic.
NAN reports that conflicts between the neighboring communities in the three Local Government Areas had been a recurring incident for many years. (NAN)
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