KANO State governor, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, has said the crisis leading to the death of many and destruction of property in Bebeji Local Government Area of the state could have been averted if the state Police Command had heeded his advice to withdraw the permit granted to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to hold its rally.
The governor said this in a statement signed by the Commissioner for Information, Youth and Culture, Mallam Muhammad Garba, and made available to journalists in the state.
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The statement read: “The attack by Kwankwasiyya Group of the Peoples Democratic Party on members of the All Progressive Congress (APC) attending a special prayer session at Kofa in Bebeji Local Government Area could have been avoided had the state Commissioner of Police heeded the advice to withdraw permit granted to the PDP to hold the rally, bearing in mind the fact that the APC was also having its political gathering in the area.”
It said prior to the unfortunate incident during which some people died, many injured and 40 vehicles got burnt or destroyed, the governor had prevailed on the police authority not allow parallel political gathering, but the police boss insisted on the ground that he had already okayed the PDP rally.
It said while APC members and supporters agreed to shelve their programme, they organised themselves into a small group to conduct a special prayer session for peaceful general election only to be attacked.
‘’While the prayer session hold, members of the Kwankwasiyya Group of the PDP attacked the congregation under the watchful eyes of their leader, Rabiu Kwankwaso, with all sorts of deadly weapons, leaving some of the APC members dead and others with injuries,’’ the statement added.
It stated that in the melee, the residents of people at Kiru/Bebeji federal constituency was torched by the PDP hoodlums.
It condemned the incident and urged the police authority to fish out the perpetrators of the attack and other noxious acts by the Kwankasiyya thugs with a view to bringing them to book.
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