Protesting youths barricade roads, stone helicopter

Some angry youths in Kano state dragged stones at the forward convoy of the president, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (Retd), on Monday during an official visit to Kano.

Security was ramped up in the Kano metropolis as the president visited the state to inaugurate eight development projects.

The president arrived at Aminu Kano International Airport in the morning and from there he was transported by helicopter to the palace of the Emir of Kano, Aminu Bayero.

Despite the heavy security presence on the routes leading to the Ahmadu Bello road where the president is set to launch the Galaxy Backbone Limited project, angry youths with stones of various sizes and brandishing sticks reportedly attacked Buhari’s convoy and helicopter as it hovered above them . .

Videos circulating on social media showed the moment the enraged youths pelted rocks at the helicopter believed to be carrying the president.

A video showed civilians angrily grappling with some unidentified security officers as a convoy made its way through their midst.

Another video showed a road strewn with stones as tear gas grenades were fired to disperse the angry mob.

Our correspondent observed how the protesting youths yelled “ba ma yi” (down with you) and ran in panic to avoid being caught by heavily armed security guards guarding the president and his convoy.

In addition to Hotoro and a few other projects being inaugurated, the president’s helicopter was parked at the emir’s palace from where he went to Kumbotso Local Government to inaugurate the 10 megawatt solar projects.

However, the president’s trip to Kumbotso did not record any mob attacks as he was hemmed in by security officers, made up of heavily armed soldiers aboard the motorized Toyota Hilux and also supported by armed mobile special police forces.

Kano State Governor Abdullahi Ganduje had recently, in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Abba Anwar, asked Buhari to postpone his planned trip to inaugurate some projects in the state.

Ganduje said in the statement that the redesign of the naira and the January 31 deadline for old banknotes had left residents of the state in trouble, adding that the development angered people.

“Deeply concerned about the hardship caused by the limited time given by the Central Bank of Nigeria to halt the use of old naira notes, and for security reasons, Kano Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje reveals that the state has decided and has written to the presidency that the president’s visit to order the postponement of some projects,” the statement said.

However, Ganduje spoke to journalists after meeting with Buhari in Katsina and expressed willingness to receive the president to carry out the projects in the state.

“We are all set to host him and we have commissioned a lot for him, including federal and state government projects. They are state-of-the-art projects,” said Ganduje.

Before the Ganduje episode, angry youths had attacked government officials when the president visited his home state in Katsina on Thursday to usher in some projects.

The youths are said to have organized the protest to express their anger at the hardships experienced in the country.

The situation reportedly worsened when the youths started throwing stones, sparking a commotion that created tension in the area

PDP PCC

Senator Dino Melaye, spokesperson for the People’s Democratic Party Presidential Campaign Council, who shared one of the videos of the reported attack, commented on the Kano disaster and blamed All Progressives Congress presidential candidate Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

In a post, he wrote: “The fight between Tinubu and Buhari enters a new dimension. The attack in Kano was well coordinated and reportedly financed by Asiwaju.

“The meeting to force Buhari into submission or defy a sponsored attack in the north is said to have hatched in Burdillon. Me, I’m doing Atiku.”

A political activist, Deji Adeyanju, who shared another video of the reported attack, said, “They show Buhari and APC Shege in Kano and many northern states.”

Similarly, in a statement signed by its national publicity secretary, Debo Ologunagba, on Monday, the PDP also blamed Tinubu and Kano State Governor Abdullahi Ganduje for the attack.

According to the party, the attack was designed to undermine the presidency, create confusion, stir up violence in the country, disrupt the conduct of the 2023 general election and derail our democracy now that he realizes he cannot win in a peaceful, free and fair election campaign. method.”

The statement read in part: “The PDP invites Nigerians to note how Governor Abdullahi Ganduje tried to shorten President Buhari’s move and even tried to dissuade him from visiting Kano State.

“More troubling is the fact that the APC presidential campaign attempted to humiliate and harm President Buhari while performing his official duties in Kano.

“It should be noted that the APC presidential candidate has shown open distaste and made inflammatory statements against President Buhari since the president’s declaration, in line with democratic best practices around the world that Nigerians should vote freely for any candidate and party of their choice in the 2023 general election.

“Asiwaju Tinubu’s apparent frustration at resorting to encouraging or condoning violence is fueled by his entitlement mentality that it is his turn to be president, despite his numerous ineligibility and disability baggage.”

Ologunagba reminded Nigerians of Tinubu’s infamous statement in London, where he declared to his supporters that “Political power is not served in a restaurant, it is not served à la carte.”

PDP allegations fake

In its response, the APC described the claim that Tinubu and Ganduje were behind the attack as “fake news”.

A statement late Monday night by the Director of Media and Publicity of the APC Campaign Council, Bayo Onanuga, accused the main opposition party of spreading the “fake news* and urged Nigerians to ignore it.

The statement read in part: “We were not surprised to read that the imaginary attack on the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is being carried out by the People’s Democratic Party as the party has nothing tangible to tell Nigerians about its crumbling presidential campaign.

“This fabricated attack on President Muhammadu Buhari must have happened only in the fertile imagination of PDP National Publicity Secretary, one Debo Ologunagba.

“Nigerians should ignore this fake news from a party that has lost touch with reality and is suffering the pain of breaking its own rules on power rotation.

“Just as the fake news against the APC presidential candidate has been fabricated and unsuccessfully tried to cause disharmony in the APC family, we think the party may have planned to embarrass President Buhari in Kano and then host the host governor Ganduje and blaming Tinubu.

“This is because PDP recently turned from a Buhari virulent critic to strangely a Buhari spokesperson. Last time it selfishly misinterpreted Asíwájú’s statement in Abeokuta as an attack on President Buhari.”

The statement went on to say that fear of imminent defeat may have pushed the PDP “into a frenzied hallucinatory mode of mindless, ludicrous, ludicrous litany of lies and fabrications against APC and its nominee.”

It continued: “The PDP is a drowning party feverishly clawing at every straw of lies and lashing out in all deceptive directions to stay afloat – but sink it will.

“We believe that Nigerians will not be caught up in the antics of jejune.

“The PDP is now waging the most unethical, pernicious and inelegant, abusive, intrusive and nationally divisive campaign in Nigerian election history.

When contacted, the president’s Senior Special Assistant for Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, declined to comment. He explained that he was not with the delegation at the time of the incident.

When contacted for a response to the Ganduje allegation, the Kano State Commissioner for Information, Mohammed Garba, did not take several calls to his phone and did not respond to the text message sent to his line as of the time of the filing of this report.

But when contacted for confirmation of the alleged attack, Kano Police Command spokesman SP Abdullahi Haruna dismissed the allegations as false and baseless.

According to him, a Kano Road Traffic Agency official stabbed a commercial tricycle operator, next to the Abubakar Rimi I television station in Hotoro, a situation that led to chaos.

The PPRO said the incident did not go down well with nearby youths, who mobilized to descend on sighted KAROTA personnel, leading to rocks being dragged at KAROTA officials, who fled the scene to safety.

The president is said to have retreated to the government building after the inauguration of projects from the moment the rampage was underway.

The Police PRO therefore vehemently denied that no one or any group had attacked the president’s convoy, adding that the visit was peaceful and trouble-free, after the huge combined security presence.

Strange elements

Meanwhile, during lunch in his honor at Kano State Government’s House, Buhari claimed that some foreign elements were part of the conspiracy used by Boko Haram to destroy the country.

The president added that it was unfortunate that Boko Haram had prevented the country from tapping its resources in the Lake Chad basin.

He said: “We have shown the Nigerians and the rest of the world that we have so many natural resources. Boko Haram insurgents seized control of 17 local governments in Borno state. Of the 27 LGs in the state, 13 were under Boko Haram and only four with the government.

“Half of Yobe State was owned by Boko Haram. I suspect there is an international group that wants to destroy Nigeria, if not how can western education be haram,” he wondered.

“I was Minister of Petroleum when I was there for four years. Go to Chad Basin and see what we put there, and then you go to Sokoto Basin. So we should pray hard and also thank God.

“We are fighting for our country against the groups that are trying to destroy Nigeria, but we are very lucky. I am very happy that Nigerians showed me support, they identified with me and I also identified with them.

According to the statement of the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, at the state banquet concluding his one-day official visit to Kano following the launch of several projects, Buhari urged citizens to appreciate what they had .

He said: “We have a great country, but we don’t appreciate it until we visit our neighbors and other countries where the concern is that people have one good meal a day.”

He also described the continued development of infrastructure across the country as “fantastic” and urged citizens to appreciate what they have as the country’s situation is not abysmal compared to its neighbours.