By Olusegun Olanrewaju
Several youths yesterday took to the streets of Kurna quarters along Katsina Road in Kano to protest the killing of a teenager by police personnel.
The incident, it was gathered, triggered tension amid an alleged planned protest by a political group against the controversial judgement of the Appeal Court on the state governorship election.
Tension was said to have started building up in the early hours of yesterday when some gangs of political thugs clashed, disrupting the peaceful atmosphere in the area.
It was alleged that the police personnel deployed to the scene of the incident embarked on sporadic shooting and the release of teargas canisters to disperse the thugs, which led to the killing of one person.
The killing of the teenager, who was not part of the warring thugs, was said to have provoked the youth to embark on the protest.
The protesters were said to have blocked the ever-busy Kano-Katsina-Daura highway for several hours, causing hardship to commuters and motorists who got stuck in the trouble zone.
When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, SP Abdullahai Haruna, confirmed the development, saying the command had since stated the matter.
According to him, the officer who fired the shots killed the teenager and injured two others had been arrested.
Haruna said, “Already, the commissioner has ordered the arrest of the Inspector and constituted a board of inquiry under the leadership of Area Commander Dala to lead the preliminary investigation while assuring the public that justice will be served.”
*NNPP calls for probe of teen’s death
Meanwhile, the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) has called for a probe into the killing of the young man identified as Salisu Player somewhere around Kurna in the Dala Local Government Area of Kano State.
A statement by the acting National Chairman of NNPP, Abba Kawu Ali, said the deceased was one of the three people shot while the others are in critical condition after an incident that occurred yesterday during a peaceful protest.
The party stated, “The NNPP has always asked the citizens to do their protest in a peaceful manner, and the protest around Kurna where Salisu Player was shot, though spontaneous, was no different.
“It would appear that men of the Nigeria Police are ill-trained for handling even peaceful protests as we regret the recorded death which is painful and unfortunate.”
The NNPP commiserated with friends and family of the deceased and urged the people of Kano to remain calm and restrained from acting outside the rule of law.
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*Party seeks EU, US, others’ intervention in unfolding confusion
Similarly, the leadership of NNPP yesterday embarked on a Save-Our-Soul (SOS) mission to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the United States, Canada, British embassies, and the United Nations (UN), in respect of the November 17, 2023, Court of Appeal judgement that nullified the election of Abba Kabir Yusuf as governor of Kano State.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had on March 18, 2023, declared Kabir Yusuf of the NNPP as the duly-elected governor of Kano State with 1,019,602 votes to beat his closest rival Nasir Gawuna of the All Progressive Congress (APC), who scored 890,705 votes.
The NNPP alleged that there are clandestine moves to truncate the will of the people of Kano State to upturn the victory of Governor Yusuf, which was freely given by the voters in March.
Apart from winning the governorship election, the NNPP also won two senatorial seats, 19 House of Representatives seats, and 30 State Assembly seats across the country.
Addressing the media during the tour, the spokesperson of the defunct NNPP Presidential Campaign Council, Ladipo Johnson, said the Certified True Copy (CTC) of the Appeal Court has exposed the rulings of the appellate court to favour the APC.
He, however, added that the NNPP would leave no stone unturned, and lawfully, to see that the Supreme Court embraces substantial justice by restoring the mandate of the Kano people and Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf.
He stated the ‘desperate move’ by the APC to hijack Kano will have political, economic, and social consequences, especially in terms of humanitarian repercussions, which is not good for the country as a whole.
While calling on President Bola Tinubu, former Nigerian leaders, the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), and traditional and religious leaders of northern extraction for justice to prevail, Johnson said Nigeria must be allowed to go the way of the crisis in Ukraine and the Middle East because of the selfish agenda of some political desperados.
“All we ask for is justice to be done to the people of Kano by restoring our mandate given out freely by the people of Kano, who are today traumatised and are in deep pain as a consequence of being democratically disempowered by the Tribunal and Appeal Court judgements without prejudice to the CTC that has exposed the dangerous game going on.
“It is not only a slap in the face but also a vicious blow to their hope of reaping democratic dividends for the choice they made.”
He added, “We are not oblivious to the fact that this attempt to forcefully hijack the Kano people’s mandate in the manner of a gangster is a ploy to destabilise Kano State and the entire Northern Region.
“We hasten to put it on record at this moment for global leaders that this is an ill-advised move whose consequences will reverberate not only in Nigeria but also in Africa and the whole world. The deliberate hijacking of a people’s mandate in Kano will no doubt have consequences politically, economically, and socially, especially in light of its humanitarian repercussions.”
The representatives of the foreign missions assured the NNPP of their support for democracy and good governance while assuring the NNPP that their message would be conveyed to the appropriate authorities for proper action.
“Since 1999, when the present political dispensation started, we have deployed observers to monitor elections in Nigeria. I observed the election in Kano, and I saw enthusiastic people. Thank you very much for your letter. We’ll follow the case and the developments.
“I will convey your message to Ambassador Samuela Nsopi. I want to commend you for peacefully expressing your political views. It is always important when you engage on critical matters,” Agnieszka Torres De Oliveira, who spoke on behalf of the EU, said.
