Commuters trapped as protesting women barricade Gombe-Yola Highway

Some women from Billiri town of Billiri Local Government Area, Gombe State, on Friday, barricaded the Gombe to Yola Highway, trapping passengers traveling along the road.
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 North-East state.
Passengers in no fewer than 500 commercial and private vehicles were stranded, creating a gridlock on the road.
A resident of Billiri town 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.
Conflicts involving neighboring communities in the three Local Government Areas had been a recurring incident for many years.