Popular Nigerian singer, Daniel Anidugbe, aka Kiss
Daniel, was attacked in the early hours of Monday by
suspected armed robbers who stormed the Calabar
Christmas Village while he was performing.
According to PUNCH Metro, the robbers, whose
numbers could not be ascertained, stormed the village
at about 1am and shot repeatedly into the air while also
dispossessing people of their valuables.
It could not be confirmed if anyone was killed in the
incident, but it was learnt that several people were
stabbed.
It was learnt that some others, who sustained gunshot
injuries, had been hospitalised.
The Calabar Christmas Village, which is located in the
precinct of Calabar Municipal Council Secretariat, opens
for 24 hours from December 1 to December 31 every
year as a central location of revelry.
It was not clear if Kiss Daniel was injured, but an
eyewitness said the robbers rushed to the stage while
the pandemonium was on and succeeded in removing
some items from the musician before he was whisked
away by security operatives.
An injured shop owner in the village, Glory Andem, told
PUNCH Metro that the presence of robbers became
obvious when some spectators started throwing bottles
at the musician.
She said:
“It was a serious situation and I got injured. What
happened was that some guys came into the village and
tried to rob Kiss Daniel when he was singing, ‘Oya talk
to me o mama.’
“They were throwing bottles and other things at him.
Before we knew it, they brought out guns and started
shooting. Some security men immediately rushed to the
singer. But even with the security, the robbers rushed at
him and removed his clothes and collected things from
him.
“They would have killed that guy. To be honest, I don’t
know how he managed to escape. You know there are
several thousands of people in the Christmas village
usually and the situation led to a serious pandemonium.
“They broke up everything in my shop. They took all my
money. They robbed a lot of shops. Our chairs were
broken. Everybody was running at the same time. It was
a terrible experience.
“Several cars were vandalised. They broke the cars to
steal from them. At a point, the lights went off and I
thought I was going to die. As I speak with you, I have a
serious cut from the incident and I want to go to a
hospital to take a tetanus injections.”
But the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Jimoh Ozi-
Obeh, said it was not a robbery attack, but a
misunderstanding between the organisers.
He said the original plan was that Kiss Daniel and other
musicians would perform at the U.J. Esuene Stadium in
Calabar, but the venue was changed to the Christmas
village without any notice to security agencies.
“There was no robbery incident in Calabar and nobody
was attacked by robbers in any other part of Cross River
State. What happened was that the government had
initially planned to host the musician at the stadium, but
the plan was changed to the Calabar Christmas Village.
They probably had misunderstanding with the
organisers. It was the change of venue that was not
properly organised,” he said.
Efforts to get the state government to comment proved
abortive as no official was willing to speak.
