•Probe clash between supporters of incumbent, former governors
The Police in Kano State are blaming members of the Kwankwassiyya faction of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the Eid el Kabir day clash with supporters of Governor Abdullahi Ganduje.
Several people from both sides were injured during the clash at the palace of the Emir of Kano.
The two sides have been trading blames over the cause of the clash and the police have set up a panel to investigate the matter with a view to bringing the culprits to book.
The Kwankwassiyya group accused the police of siding with supporters of the Governor, an allegation that has not gone down well with the security agency.
Its spokesman, Magaji Musa Majia, a deputy superintendent (DSP), dismissed the allegation as “mischievous, malicious, callous and a demonstration of shame.”
He branded the authors of the allegation as “pathological liars,” saying: “the fracas occurred during ‘Hawan Daushe’ at Emir’s Palace, Kano, on the second day of Eid-el-Kabir, an occasion organised by the Emirate Council as purely traditional and not political.
“During the occasion, District Heads (Hakimai) pay homage to His Royal Highness, the Emir of Kano at ‘Kofar Kudu.’
“On that fateful day, the Kwankwasiyya faction of APC converged at Hasiya Bayero Hospital in thousands, with their supporters drawn from Sokoto, Kogi, and other neighbouring states and various Local Government Areas of Kano State with the ulterior motive to disrupt the occasion, which was not a political gathering.
“They were chanting ‘Bamayi! Bamayi!! Bamayi!!!, meaning, ‘we are not in support, we are not in support, we are not in support.
“This happened when the factional group (Kwankwasiyya), sighted the convoy of the Governor of Kano State, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje approaching the venue of the occasion and suddenly started pelting the convoy.
“However, with the deliberate cause of chaos, a clash ensued between the two APC factions. With the quick intervention of the police, normalcy was restored. Some notable Kwankwasiyya’s ardent supporters were rescued from the ugly incident including former Commissioner in the past administration, Dr. Yunusa Adamu Dangwani, former SSG, Dr. Rabiu Suleiman Bichi, former Director Special Services, Alhaji Danyaro Yakasai, and escorted by the police to their respective residences safely.
“However, it is quite disheartening that these same people that caused the pandemonium turned a leaf of shame against the police that saved their lives from being lynched. On no occasion did the Kwankwasiyya faction of APC seek audience with the Commissioner of Police and their request was turned down. Such assertion is nothing but an act of mischief.”
He said the police authorities in the state have constituted a team of police detectives to unravel the immediate and remote cause of the fracas.
The team’s terms of reference are: identify the victims, attackers, their sponsors, masterminds, as well as any action or inaction taken so far against the police, adding that those found culpable would be prosecuted.