TENSION has engulfed the commercial city of Kano over the killing of a teenager by a Police officer on Wednesday, November 29.
Following altercations among rival groups, reports say, a group of Police officers deployed to the scene of the incident started firing intermittently and used tear gas canisters to disperse the crowd.
The Police intervention took a negative turn after a stray bullet from an officer struck an adolescent.
This led to the protesters barricading the busy Kano-Katsina-Daura highway.
Reacting to the incident on Wednesday, the Kano state Police command, in a statement signed by its spokesperson Abdullahi Kiyawa, said the Commissioner of Police (CP) in the state, Muhammed Gumel, had ordered the arrest of the officer involved.
Reacting to the killing, the ruling New Nigeria’s Peoples Party (NNPP), in a statement signed by its acting National Chairman, Abba Ali, said the victim, Salisu Player, was one of the three people shot as others were in critical condition.
The party claimed the incident occurred during a peaceful protest.
“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 stated.
The party commiserated with friends and family of the deceased and urged all Kano residents to remain calm and restrained from acting outside the law.
The situation in Kano has been tense since the Court of Appeal in Abuja sacked Kabir Abba Yusuf as the state governor, affirming the state’s governorship election petitions tribunal ruling.
In a judgment delivered on Friday, November 17, a three-member panel of the appellate court held that the NNPP breached the Constitution by sponsoring Yusuf, who was not a party member.
“All issues in this appeal are dismissed, and the judgment of the tribunal is affirmed,” the court ruled.
The situation worsened when the Appeal Court judgment’s Certified True Copy (CTC) was released.
There was confusion when a portion of the report affirmed the victory of Abba Yusuf as the duly elected governor.
On page 67 of the CTC, sighted by The ICIR on Tuesday, November 21, and signed by the registrar, Jameel Umar, the court upheld Yusuf’s victory.
On page 67 of the CTC sighted, the panel headed by Moore Adumein, in its conclusion, said, “I will conclude by stating that the live issues in this appeal are hereby resolved in favour of the 1st respondent and against the appellant.”
“In the circumstances, I resolve all the issues in favour of the appellant and against the 1st respondent. Therefore, I find no merit in this appeal, which is liable to be and is hereby dismissed.
The ICIR reported that the state’s Police Command on Monday, November 20, said it had uncovered plans by supporters of some political parties to cause violence in the state.
According to the command’s public relations officer, Kiyawa, the groups wanted to demonstrate against the Appeal Court ruling on the March 18 governorship election.
He, however, said the command had taken necessary security measures to stop hostilities from rising to the point where law and order would collapse.
The command warned the state’s residents to be law-abiding, noting that every protest or procession should follow the law.
.
A reporter with the ICIR
A Journalist with a niche for quality and a promoter of good governance
Usman Mustapha is a solution journalist with International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: umustapha@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M