Insecurity: Police arrest students in Katsina over protest

Many students were arrested on Thursday by police for embarking on another protest in Katsina over insecurity.

The arrested protesters, mostly Students from various tertiary institutions, were reported to have stormed the streets, demanding the resignation of some top government officials.

• Police arrest coalition leader for organising Katsina protest
• Amnesty Int’l knocks FG for arresting man who led Katsina protests

The students were rounded up in the metropolis as they began their March and taken to the Central police station.

Confirming the arrest, the spokesman of the state police command SP Gambo Isah said “Yes we have arrested many of them”

“They came out on the streets saying the Secretary to the State Government must go, so we don’t know who is the brain behind this politically motivated demonstration in Katsina”

“It is very unlawful and instigating members of the public against government, so it is a crime and we are not going to leave it”

“We will prosecute them in court. We will charge them for inciting disturbance, breach of peace amongst others”

Thousands of youths had on Tuesday took part in a peaceful protest in Katsina, asking President Muhammadu Buhari and Governor Aminu Bello Masari to resign.

They expressed dismay over the rising insecurity across the state, the North West and Nigeria at large.

The youths, under the auspices of 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.

Nastura Ashir Sharif, leader of the Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG), was arrested shortly after the protest in Katsina.

A statement by the CNG on its Facebook page said he was arrested and moved to Abuja by the state commissioner of police.

Amnesty International has however berated the federal government for arresting Nastura Sharif over the protest against the worsening insecurity in Katsina state.

Isa Sanusi, the spokesman of the AI, urged the government to release Sharif unconditionally.

“Nigerian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release Nastura Ashir Sharif who has done nothing more than speak up in defence of people’s right to life and calling for an end of the rising insecurity across northern Nigeria.

“He was simply asking the authorities to do their job.

“His arrest appears to be an attempt to intimidate and harass both him and others peacefully exercising freedom of assembly and expression.

“Protest is not a crime, it is a right.

“Subjecting activists to such arbitrary arrest is a violation of Nigerian and international human rights laws” Sanusi maintained.