But the governor spoke from Kano yesterday, shortly after receiving the federal government delegation led by the minister of interior, Comrade Abba Moro. The members of the delegation were on a sympathy visit to the governor.
Kwanakwaso said, “They are just senators sitting in Abuja and they don’t know anything but they have to speak rubbish and absolute nonsense.
“Senators in Abuja felt they are big and mightier. Abuja only they know. They don’t know what is happening in their states or constituencies. If there is kidnapping, militancy or bomb blast in their home state they seek refuge in their castles in Abuja.”
Senator Uche Chukumerije and Senator Kabiru Ibrahim Gaya had accused him of being nonchalant and that he failed to personally sympathise with the victims’ families.
Chukumerije and Gaya had claimed that 80 per cent of those who died were Igbo and 20 per cent from the other parts of the country.
Governor Kwankwaso called on the senators and members of the House of Representatives to pay a visit to Kano like the federal government did and witness events on the ground. He asked the electorate to ensure that, in the next election, they elect credible senators unlike the present ones who don’t wish good for the country and the sustenance of peace and oneness of the nation. “We are working round the clock to ensure there is peace in Kano State and we shall continue with the good work for the betterment of the state,” Kwankwaso added.
Moro commended the traditional rulers, the security initiative of Kwankwaso and his desire to have peace in the state. He said, “Clearly today is the demonstration of federal government’s intensified collaborative effort with the state government and the people of Nigeria to avoid the said wanton destruction of lives and property in the south.”
He said that the federal government would help in improving the security situation in the state.
ACN calls for decisive action
Meanwhile, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has strongly condemned Monday’s suicide bombing in Kano that led to the killing and maiming of innocent citizens, saying it is time for all stakeholders in the country to act decisively to stem an impending national catastrophe.
In a statement issued in Abuja yesterday by its national publicity secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said it is now futile to expect that the federal government can end the crisis, as it has so far shown that it possesses neither the vision nor the capacity to confront the worsening acts of terrorism in the country.
The ACN said, “As we commiserate with the victims of this senseless act and their families, we will like to say that this is the time for sober reflection and restraint, and that all leaders of thought must urgently come together, formally or informally, to avert a national calamity that will not spare anyone, whether or not they are members of the Boko Haram sect.”
The party said all religious, ethnic and political leaders must start by preaching restraint in their domains, since it is now clear that the end-gamers behind these senseless killings are bent on setting Nigerians against themselves.
ACN noted, with gross disappointment, that the recent escalation in the senseless attacks in the north follows the un-statesmanlike display by President Goodluck Jonathan when he paid a belated visit to the states that have now become the epicentre of the Boko Haram crisis.
‘’We have said this before and we hereby repeat it. The president’s display of anger, instead of temperance, at his testy meeting with the community leaders during his visit, is like ouring petrol on a naked fire. It will definitely result in conflagration, the type of which we are now witnessing.
Terrorists are becoming more desperate to divide the country – NLC
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has described the recent bomb blast at a bus station in Kano State as a desperate act by desperate people to weaken the bonds that hold the nation together.
The labour union, however, said Nigeria will overcome them if we refuse to fall for their ploy by not carrying reprisal attacks.
In a press statement by an official of the NLC, Mr. Promise Adewusi, the labour body condemned the bombing, describing it as unjustifiable act of horror. Adewusi stated, “We at the Nigeria Labour Congress condemn in very strong terms the unjustifiable act of horror perpetrated in Kano on Monday by yet to be identified bombers which left scores of passengers and other users of a motor park dead. It was cowardly and shameful and incapable of advancing any cause except evil. We at the Congress believe that no cause is worth killing innocent Nigerians for.
“If motor parks where ordinary people use to eke out their daily living are no longer safe, where else could be safe? Yet we urge the people of Nigeria and citizens of other nations domiciled in Nigeria not to be intimidated or beaten. Instead, we should rise in unison and with common accord to preach peace and unity in our land. These are difficult moments indeed but we must rise to the challenge in the hope that, in the end, good shall triumph over evil.
20 people killed in Riyom fresh attack
At least 20 people have been confirmed dead after an overnight attack in Atakar of Ganawuri area of Riyom local government area of the Plateau State.
A member representing Riyom constituency in the State House of Assembly, Hon. Daniel Dem, told our correspondent on phone that the village was overran in a midnight attack by suspected Fulani militias.
According to the lawmaker, over 40 houses had been burnt to ashes, adding that the attackers invaded the village while the villagers were sleeping, burning and shooting anybody at sight.
He added that there had never been an attack in the village, so there was no security presence while the militias used the advantage to raid and burn all the houses in the village.
According to him, there were corpses lying in the village square. He, however, commended the DPO of the area, saying that, if not for his effort, the entire village would have become history.
LEADERSHIP gathered that some Fulani herdsmen with arms had gone to Atkar village at about 8pm and claimed that they were on bee-hunting but they were challenged by the natives who told them that the weapons they were carrying did not show people on a peaceful mission.
It was learnt that an argument was said to have ensued and, in the process, the Fulani killed five people in Atakar.
The incident was said to have the angered the natives who mobilised to chase them out of the village. But the gunmen were said to have regrouped early yesterday morning and invaded the village in large numbers.
Two people were killed again in Atakar and 13 others in neighbouring Dajak village, bringing the number to 20 between Wednesday evening and Thursday morning.
The management committee chairman of Riyom local government council, Hon. Sam Gyang Audu, told our correspondent that the number could be on the high side. According to him, many corpses were lying on the ground in the two villages.
But the commissioner of police, Plateau State command, Mr. Chris Olakpe, told our correspondent that no life was lost in the attack.
Residents relocate from community
Meanwhile, residents of Mavo community in Wase LGA of Plateau State, which came under attack on Wednesday, have started relocating from the community in droves. A source, who spoke to our correspondent said he saw villagers moving out with their property items, some with their livestock.
IG bars military, politicians from using tinted, unregistered vehicles
Following the renewed terrorist attacks in some parts of the country, the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Mohammed Abubakar, has directed all Zonal AIGs and State Command Commissioners of Police, to arrest military personnel, politicians from using tinted and unregistered vehicles.
Abubakar gave the directive yesterday in a statement signed by the Force spokesman, Mr. Frank Mba and made available to LEADERSHIP, where he expressed grave concern over the links of some recent terrorist attacks to perpetrators who used either tinted glasses or unlicensed vehicles.
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