Post-election violence rocks Sokoto, Kano, eight others

Post-election violence swept through some Northern states on Sunday night and Monday as results of the presidential poll released by the Independent National Electoral Commission clearly showed Dr. Goodluck Jonathan as the winner. States where violence flared were Kano, Kaduna, Adamawa, Katsina, Plateau, Yobe, Bauchi, Borno, Katsina and Sokoto. In states like Kano, Bauchi and Kaduna, authorities imposed curfews after some people were killed and houses belonging to some prominent persons were burnt by protesting youths. Among those who lost property to the mayhem are Vice-President Namadi Sambo; former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Ghali Na’Abba; a former presidential candidate of the defunct National Republican Convention, Alhaji Bashir Tofa; and the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero. Some churches, a police station and a Quick Service Restaurant were also burnt in Kaduna by irate youths, who dislodged students of Nuhu Bamali Polytechnic from their campus. Some other houses were also razed while a number of people were maimed or killed in Kaduna before Governor Patrick Yakowa imposed a 24-hour curfew on the entire state. Eyewitnesses also claimed that the protesters forced open the Zaria Central Prison and set the inmates free. It was learnt that soldiers in Sokoto, Sokoto State dispersed an angry mob which attempted to set the palace of the Sultan, Alhaji Saad Abubakar, ablaze. In Bauchi State, the campaign office of Governor Isa Yuguda was reportedly torched by another set of angry youths, who injured a number of people. Violence also flared in Azare, Bauchi State; Mubi, Adamawa State; and Potiskum in Yobe State. It was learnt that angry supporters of one of the four main political parties attacked perceived political opponents in Angwar Muazu, Kabala West, Rigasa, Kawo, Tundun Wada and other flashpoints in Kaduna. They were said to have also razed the home of the defeated candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in Kaduna Central Senatorial District, Alhaji Hamisu Yusuf Abubakar, (aka Mairago). Eyewitnesses said policemen guarding a branch of a commercial bank along Nnamdi Azikiwe Expressway Bye Pass, Kabala West were also seriously injured by rampaging youths. The crisis also prevented pupils writing the ongoing Senior Secondary School Certificate examinations in the state from getting to their centres. Many residents of the city fled to police stations and military barracks to take refuge. But the timely intervention of soldiers and policemen brought the situation under control. The Deputy Police Commissioner, Kaduna State Command, Mr. Ekeh Nwadibo, confirmed that the situation was under control. Soldiers and policemen also mounted checkpoints along major roads and streets within the metropolis as well as those linking the state capital with neighbouring states. Some arrests were said to have been made by security agents in the state. The youths claimed that although the opposition Congress for Progressive Change won the election in Kaduna State, the votes recorded for the Peoples Democratic Party during the presidential election were false. “There is no way the PDP could have scored the number of votes allocated to it in a single senatorial district,” some of the youths said. In a statewide broadcast, Yakowa said all security agencies in the state had been ordered to enforce the curfew. The governor explained that “for no justifiable reasons, groups of persons in some parts of the state decided to resort to violence and wanton destruction of lives and property.” He added, “Since last (Monday) night, groups of people, for no justifiable reasons, have resorted to acts of violence and wanton destruction of lives and properties of law abiding citizens in some parts of the state. “I have found it necessary to immediately place a 24-hours curfew restricting all forms of movement across the state.” An online medium, elombah.com, reported that in Jos, some youths burnt cars around Bauchi Road while in Yola, a crowd besieged traders at the Jimeta Modern Market, burning posters of Jonathan and those of Governor Murtala Nyako. Security agents were deployed in the hotspots while the spokesperson for the National Emergency Management Agency, Yushau Shuaibu, said emergency response officials had raced to the scenes of the protests. In Sokoto, soldiers and riot policemen were drafted to the streets before normalcy returned to the city and its environs. The areas that witnessed violence included Kanwuri, the area around the palace of the Sultan; Rijiya, Mabera, Diplomat, Sahara, Bello Way, Tudun-wada, Emir Yahayya and Sultan Atiku roads. But the mob succeeded in also burning a house, two vehicles and a motorcycle belonging to officials of Rima Radio, Sokoto in Rijiya. Similarly, five vehicles were destroyed at the radio station while several others were smashed across the city. The spokesman for the Sokoto State Police Command, Mr. A-Mustapha Sani, told NAN that an undisclosed number of arrests had been made. The protest in Jos, Plateau State started at about noon when some youths burnt tyres at Bauchi road, as well as Masalanchi Juma’a and parts of Angwan Rogo. The sight of smoke rising in the sky sent people scampering in different directions for safety. Our correspondent in the state gathered that the fracas was sparked off by rival gangs of Hausa youths who accused one another of betrayal over the presidential election. Police Public Relations Officer, Apev Jacob, and Media Officer of the Special Task Force, Capt. Charles Ekeocha, however said that there was no cause for alarm as the situation has been contained. Following the violence, ex-Niger Delta militants announced on Monday that they were going to hold an emergency meeting at Gbekebor community, Delta State on Monday. In a terse unsigned statement titled “Attention: Emergency security meeting” e-mailed to one of our correspondents, they explained that the meeting was to review the incidents. The statement reads, “All Niger Delta ex-combatants have been summoned to an emergency security meeting at Gbekebor 15 hours GMT today (Monday), to review the post-election violence taking place in the Northern parts of the country.” It was gathered that the meeting was convened by Chief Government Ekpemakpolo (aka Tompolo) and some prominent Niger Delta activists. By Segun Olatunji, Jude Owuamanam and Friday Olokor with agency reports Courtesy Of Punch