Pandemonium broke out yesterday at the Eid praying ground in Ilorin, Kwara State as hoodlums attempted to disrupt the prayers held to mark the Eid-ul-Kabir celebrations.

The hoodlums attempted to break through a security barrier erected by the police as part of measures to forestall their planned invasion of the VIP section of the expansive praying ground.

The spokesman of the state Police Command, Ajayi Okasanmi, told newsmen that eight people had been arrested over the development but expressed delight that inspite of the situation, the prayers still held.

Commissioner of police for the state, Mr. Esosa Amadasun, had on Monday confirmed receiving intelligence report that some people were planning to invade the praying ground and disrupt the proceedings but expressed confidence that the command had put enough men on ground to foil the plan.

Several vehicles were damaged as a result of the crisis; their broken glasses still litter the New Yidi Road venue of the event.

Although some people claimed the crisis was linked to the non-payment of salaries to local government workers, Okasanmi said it would be too early to explain the motive of the hoodlums as there was no civil servant or government official among those arrested so far.

A Government House source also explained that the government had been doing its best to ameliorate the salary situation including a directive by Governor AbdulFattah Ahmed to council chairmen to pay at least one month of their arrears pending when the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) would release their own bailout package.

Okasanmi said: "We deployed enough policemen in synergy with other security agencies to make sure the celebration was peaceful; it was free but in the course of prayers, there was this insurgence of criminals which we had put into consideration before planning our strategy yesterday.

"We know normally they always come there to beg for money from dignataries and members of the public. So they came as usual and when we noticed that they were becoming unruly, we had to come out to really prevent them from gaining access to where the VIPs were standing.

"You know they would not want to be held back because that was where they believed they could see their leaders and make some money from them. So they became really unruly and we had to send them away and we arrested some of them, about eight of them and they are in our custody now and we have started investigation."We learnt that one or two persons were injured but there is no official confirmation yet. Maybe before Monday when investigation is completed, we will know the real situation.

"The motive of their unruly behaviour is yet to be determined but as far as we are concerned, they are miscreants and they were there begging for money. The prayers eventually held and the dignitaries went back to their destinations.

"Among those arrested, there is no civil servant or public official."

'Ilorin Yidi Protest Not Targeted At Saraki'

Meanwhile, the Media Office of the Senate president, Dr Bukola Saraki, has clarified the report in the social media over the alleged attack on Saraki, saying that the number three citizen was not attacked at the Ilorin Yidi praying ground yesterday.

The statement reads in part, "The attention of the Media Office of the Senate President has been drawn to media reports that the Senate president, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, was allegedly attacked at the Eid Prayer Ground during the prayers to mark the Eid-el-Kabir in Ilorin.

"The Senate president arrived at the venue this morning without any incident, prayed with other Muslim faithful, including the Emir of Ilorin, His Royal Highness (HRH), Alhaji Ibrahim Sulu Gambari, speaker of the Kwara State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon Ali Ahmad and a former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Alfa Belgore, among others.

"Before the Senate president left the prayer ground, he spoke to reporters who had asked him about his message for Nigerians to mark the Eid-el-Kabir.

"We want to say that nothing can be further from the truth as the Senate president was never attacked, neither was there any attempt made on his life to warrant him being 'whisked away' as reported by a section of the media.

"We, however, observed that there was a protest allegedly staged by local government employees over the purported non-payment of salaries which hoodlums attempted to hijack but this development was immediately curtailed by security agents.

"Therefore, to say that the Senate president was attacked at the venue of the prayers is totally false and a figment of the imagination of those behind the story because the protest was never targeted at him, neither was any missile hurled at him.

"The Kwara State government has since issued a statement in which it stated that majority of the workers in the state have received their salaries and that those yet to receive theirs will do so on Monday as Thursday and Friday of this week are public holidays."

KWSG Condemns Yidi Attack

The Kwara State government has condemned the attack on dignitaries at the Ilorin Eid prayer ground during yesterday's Eid-ul-Kabir celebration, saying it is absurd, barbaric and unIslamic.

In a statement issued by the chief press secretary to the governor, Abdulwahaab Oba, the government said it heard of plans by some aggrieved politicians in collaboration with some of the local government employees and teachers to protest arrears of salaries owed them by their various local government authorities.