Thousands of youths on Tuesday in Katsina took part in a peaceful protest asking President Muhammadu Buhari and Governor Aminu Bello Masari to resign.
They voiced reservations over rising insecurity across the state, the North West and Nigeria at large.
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The youths, under the auspices of Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG), said that the federal government and the North West state governors had failed to tackle the spate of killings by bandits in the region.
Similar protest was launched in Niger State where the protesters called for action by the federal government to stem the rising insecurity.
Responding to the protest in Katsina, which is his home state, President Muhammadu Buhari asked the people to be patient but quickly added that taking over the streets by the youths in protest would distract the military operatives deployed to the state to tackle the bandits.
Daily Trust reports that yesterday’s protest was the fourth in the series by residents of Katsina State over rising insecurity in the state in the last one month.
There were protests at Daddara town in Jibia LGA, Yantumaki in Danmusa LGA and Yankara in Faskari LGA.
During yesterday’s protest, the youths who came from all the 34 local governments of the state planned to converge at the Kangiwa square, along kofar Soro, at about 8am, with a view to take their plight to the government house.
However, while approaching the venue, most of the roads leading to the take-off point were blocked by security agents, a development that forced the protesters to march from different directions.
The youths carried placards with different inscriptions like ‘End the Katsina killings now,” ‘Buhari/Masari resign now, you cannot protect us,’ ‘Banditry and kidnapping are our monsters not corona,’ and ‘Stop the bloodshed,’ among others.
Police commissioner warns protesters
The Katsina State Commissioner of Police, Sanusi Buba, who intercepted the protesters on their way to the government house, said the peaceful manner of the protest was commendable.
He, however, advised them not to allow themselves to be used by some miscreants.
According to him, “All stakeholders are concerned about the insecurity. Government is deeply worried and is doing its best over the security challenges.
“There were times when 17 councils were faced with insecurity in Borno; it was a time when people were not allowed into mosques and markets until they were checked to see if they concealed explosives. There was a time when we had bombs in Abuja and Maiduguri.
“This same challenge (insecurity in Katsina and other places) shall become history.
“Don’t allow people to use you for their selfish interests; if you allow this peaceful protest to escalate into something else, you have no permit to do that…If you allow it you will bear all the consequences.
“Don’t instigate people against the government,” he said.
We’re angry — Katsina youths
Despite the blockage, the protesters in Katsina moved on foot through Kofar Durbi to GRA roundabout but along the road, some hoodlums tried to cause confusion by attacking them and setting ablaze some of their banners.
The long procession, which was billed to terminate at the new government house in Katsina had to end abruptly as all the roads were sealed by policemen and DSS operatives.
Some leaders of the protesters who took time to address the procession berated the President Buhari administration’s alleged failure to stop killings.
The North West Vice-Chairman of the coalition, Jamilu Aliyu Charanchi who led the youths called for the overhaul of Nigeria’s security architecture.
According to him, “The rise in the spate of banditry, kidnappings and bloodshed in places such as Faskari, Danmusa and Batsari, lately, has become a major trying point for everyone but the authorities have remained detached from reality.
“The administration’s various attempts to reassert public confidence with repeated rhetoric of being on top of the situation seems increasingly discordant as the violent attacks, killings and kidnaps become more regular and calls for protests becoming overwhelmingly loud and widespread,” he said.
Also speaking, Lukman Umar who is the Katsina State Chairman of the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN), said Katsina, which was once the centre of peace has been plunged into avoidable chaos.
“The audacity of the bandits is appalling. They sack villages and annihilate the people in broad daylight.
“They rustle cows, raze markets and reduce houses to rubble. They destroy farms and pillage resources.
“They rape women and abduct men and demand a ransom their relations cannot afford,” he said.
The Niger episode
Daily Trust reports that the Niger State chapter of Coalition of Northern Groups also staged a peaceful protest over incessant killing in the state and the North in general.
The protest, which was led by the NLC Chairman in Niger, Comrade Yakubu Garba and Comrade Bello Ibrahim who is the Convener of Concern Nigerlites Forum, yesterday, started from Central mosque to the emir’s palace in Minna.
The group presented a letter of ‘Passionate appeal for quick intervention’ to the Emir of Minna, Alhaji Umar Faruk Bahago for onward transmission to Governor Abubakar Sani Bello and President Buhari detailing the plights of the affected communities and offered some recommendations.
According to him, the incessant attacks were evident in about nine local government areas including Shiroro, Munya, Rafi, Mariga, Paikoro, Lapai, Gurara and others.
Responding, Emir Bahago appreciated the peaceful conduct of the youths, saying that everybody was concerned about the situation.
He also called on them to give the government maximum support rather than resort to blame games.
Our people will defend themselves
The Senator Representing Niger East Senatorial District at the National Assembly, Mohammed Sani Musa, said that the people in his constituency would defend themselves if the government continued to fail them.
Musa stated this while reacting to the attacks by bandits at Kundu and Yakila in Rafi Local Government Area on Saturday, which left at least four policemen dead, many villagers wounded and kidnapped.
He also spoke on the Monday’s attack on Erena in Shiroro Local Government Area where bandits killed at least three persons and displaced over five hundred residents.
“My heart is pained seeing the bloodletting in my constituency…We have made several appeals to the federal government, we paid a courtesy visit to His Excellency the president but yet no end to the carnage as the marauders keep killing and maiming our people,” he said.
Senator Musa said youths in the area had decided to defend themselves against the bandits if nothing was done.
Meanwhile, members of the Niger State House of Assembly during yesterday’s plenary summoned Governor Bello to explain why the government was doing nothing to address the incessant banditry attacks in the state.
Meanwhile, Amiru Halilu who comments on public affairs from Kaduna chided President Buhari.
He said: “While Nigerians are losing their lives to chronic nightmares like banditry, kidnapping, armed robbery, ritual killing, Boko Haram and inter-communal violence on a day-to-day basis, the supposedly servant, Buhari is in a castle replete with opulence and comfort issuing empty threats and disregarding warnings and giving series of unworkable matching orders to the already exhausted service chiefs.”
Also, a retired Assistant Inspector General of Police, Ambrose Aisabor, said yesterday that North West governors committed “security suicide by negotiating with armed bandits.”
The security expert said it was high time Nigeria called for international help, noting that “there is no shame in it.”
“The peace they bought has now collapsed. Negotiating with the bandits was a mistake on the part of the governors,” he said.
According to him, this was the time to restructure the country’s security architecture.
“The service chiefs have done their best. They should be told a big thank you and allowed to go.
“New strategies should be put in place while the federal government should do introspection on how much has been spent in tackling this insecurity so far and see whether the money has been judiciously spent.
Conspiracy theory punctured
Daily Trust reports that in the past few days, some people claimed that the North was being haunted with a view to decimating its population as evident in the way people were being killed on a daily basis.
However, there was an equal response on social media that the claim of decimation could not be true considering that people from the North dominate the security architecture of the country.
People have used the Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to share the security organogram of Nigeria, insisting that unless they were incompetent, those managing the security apparatus should tackle the faceless people allegedly working hard to force the North into extinction.
One WhatsApp user posted the following message:
Raging Insecurity in Northern Nigeria: Food for thought
President: Muhammadu Buhari (Katsina)
Senate president: Ahmad Lawan (Yobe)
Deputy Speaker: Ahmed Idris (Plateau)
Chief of Army staff: Tukur Yusuf Buratai (Yobe)
Chief of Air staff: Sadique Abubakar (Bauchi)
National Security Adviser: Babagana Monguno (Borno)
Director-General of DSS: Yusuf Magaji Bichi (Kano)
IGP: Mohammad Adamu (Nasarawa)
Minister of Police Affairs: Mohammed Maigari Dingyadi (Sokoto)
Minister of Defence: Bashir Salihi Magashi (Kano)
Comptroller-General of Immigration: Muhammad Babandede (Jigawa)
Comptroller-General of Customs: Hamid Ali (Bauchi)
Commandant-General of NSCDC: Abdullahi Gana Muhammad (Niger)
Director NIA: Ahmad Rufa’i Abubakar (Katsina)
Chairmen of security committees in the Senate
Army: Ali Ndume (Borno)
Air Force: Bala Ibn Na ‘Allah (Kebbi)
Defence: Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto)
National Security and Intelligence: Abdullahi Gobir (Sokoto)
Police Affairs: Dauda Jika (Bauchi)
Chairmen of security committees in the House of Reps
Army: Abdulrazak Namdas (Adamawa)
National security & Intelligence: Sha’aban Sharada (Kano)
Navy: Gagdi Yusuf (Plateau)
Police Affairs: Bello Kumo (Gombe)
Air Force: Shehu Koko (Kebbi)
While analysing why the North could not get it right, the Dean of PostGraduate Studies at Bayero University, Kano, Prof. Umaru Pate, punctured the conspiracy theory that some people were behind the killings in the region to reduce its population.
“I think the question you should ask is what is happening to the intelligence system and how good is the security architecture.
“Check the Nigerian Constitution, it says the primary responsibility of government is to protect the people.
“So, where is the government?
“Why is it that hundreds of bandits have the audacity to move freely?
“Why do we have arms coming into the country freely from Libya and Mali?
“The answers to all the questions raised boils down to corruption in the land and we must address it before we can move forward,” Prof. Pate said.
Be patient with us — Buhari
President Buhari on Tuesday appealed to the people of Katsina State to be patient and supportive of the ongoing military operations in the state.
In a statement by his spokesman, Garba Shehu, Buhari said the armed forces were capable of dealing with the challenges of banditry and terrorism. Buhari, who warned that taking to the streets for protest could distract the military operations, urged Katsina indigenes not to give up on the military “which over the years have a strong track record of quelling crises once given enough time.”
According to him, “The major forests in North Western Nigeria have been identified as home to the bandits in the region. The operation will clear all these forests.”
The presidency urged more patience as the military took appropriate steps to block gaps being exploited to unleash mayhem on innocent citizens.
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