Sokoto cleric, Sheikh Abubakar Jibril, arrested
Tuesday, 01 March 2011 18:14

Ahead of President Goodluck Jonathan’s visit to Sokoto state next week in continuation of his presidential campaign, the police in Sokoto state yesterday arrested a renowned Muslim cleric, Sheikh Abubakar Jibril, for allegedly defacing the posters of the president.





President Jonathan’s campaign posters adorn strategic locations in Sokoto including roundabouts and other public places, ahead of his Wednesday, March 9th, visit to the state as part of his ongoing nationwide campaign rallies.

Our correspondent however observed yesterday that some of the posters were removed while some billboards with the president’s posters on them have been defaced .

Confirming Sheikh Abubakar’s arrest to Peoples Daily in Sokoto yesterday, the Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Al-Mustapha Sani, said the cleric and four others were arrested at Gawonnama area of Sokoto metropolis while allegedly perpetrating the act.

According to him, the cleric, who is also the chief Imam of Farfaru Juma’at Mosque, was “nabbed for inciting public disturbance in the state contrary to the laws of the land”.

The police spokesman also revealed that the Islamic scholar had already been whisked away to Abuja for further interrogation.

Also, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Public Relation Officer in the state, Alhaji Abubakar Babangida, while commenting on the development, described the act as unfortunate, saying “the cleric has no right to deface the posters of anybody not to talk of that of the president.

He said the Islamic scholar is not supposed to engage in partisan politics but should bother himself with Islamic activities.

The arrest of the cleric, Peoples Daily gathered, may be in connection with the clamour in the North-West for the retention of the zoning arrangement that would see the return of the presidency to the North, which has been jettisoned, by the PDP leadership.

A PDP stalwart who pleaded anonymity explained that people are still bitter and not satisfied with the ruling party’s position on zoning by not fielding a Northern presidential candidate to complete the tenure of late President Umaru Musa Yar’adua.

He pointed out that it was out of anger that some youth went out in the metropolis to deface the posters of the president.

Police detain cleric over Jonathan’s posters
Wednesday, 02 March 2011 00:00 Rakiya A. Muhammad, Sokoto & Misbahu Bashir, Abuja


Sheikh Abubakar Jibril
Prominent Islamic scholar in Sokoto Sheikh Abubakar Jibril was arrested by the police on Monday afternoon and was flown to Abuja yesterday over what police sources said was the defacing of some campaign posters of President Goodluck Jonathan. The Sheikh, who is the Chief Imam of the Farfaru Juma’at Mosque in Sokoto, was arrested with his two sons, his driver and a domestic aide, according to relations and the police. Spokesman for the Sokoto police command ASP Al-Mustapha Sani said policemen on patrol arrested Sheikh Abubakar and the others while they were using black paint to deface the posters of the president and his deputy at some roundabouts in Sokoto metropolis at about 5pm on Monday.



Sani said they were arrested over inciting public disturbance and have been transferred to the Force Criminal Investigation Department in Abuja.

In Abuja, the Force Public Relations Officer DCP Olusola Amore confirmed that five people including Sheikh Abubakar were being held at the Force CID and that they were arrested for allegedly defacing the posters of the PDP presidential candidate and his running mate. He said they were also suspected of inciting dislike for Jonathan and of acts capable of fanning the flames of public disturbance.

Others in detention are Abba Abubakar Jibrin, Bello Abubakar and AlhajiAbubakar Jibrin. Security sources told Daily Trust that they were flown to Abuja by a chartered plane. The FPRO said the suspects will be charged after police investigation is completed.

Wife of Sheikh Abubakar Jibril, Hajiya Safiya Jibril has called on Federal Government to release her husband saying he is not a trouble maker but a peace loving person.

She said her husband had gone out on that day, Monday February 28 and that she was at home when she received information that he had been arrested at about 4.30 pm.

“Sheikh is a not a trouble maker, he is a peace loving. He is an Islamic scholar and preacher and advocate of education. He is father of over 50 children. He caters for relatives and the converts. Those in authority should fear God and release my husband and others.”

But a civil society activist, Ibrahim Tudun Doki described the arrest as political intolerance by the Jonathan regime. Tudun Doki, who is a House of Representatives candidate of the Congress for Progress Change [CPC] recalled that General Muhammadu Buhari’s campaign billboard was destroyed in Port Harcourt, Rivers State last week and that the police did not arrest or charge anyone to court for the action.

Meanwhile, a coalition of 51 organisations in Sokoto State comprising Imams and preachers yesterday condemned the Sheikh’s arrest. Speaking to Daily Trust in Sokoto, their spokesman Alhaji Shuaibu Kaoji said it was outrageous that the police even had to move the Sheikh to Abuja.

He said they were at the office of the Assistant Inspector General of Police in charge of Zone 10 to lay their complaint, but were told that he had gone to Kebbi State. According to him, a committee of seven persons from the 51 Islamic organisations were therefore sent to Birnin Kebbi to meet the AIG on the issue.

Arosa:

see the Imam teeth as e be, the SSS should flog him 30 strokes of horse whip. that will show him.

they were also suspected of inciting dislike for Jonathan

Kilode?!:



And that is a crime? Really?

In a democracy?

And this "new PDP" = Fresh air?

ROFL

kilode?! ]they were also suspected of inciting dislike for Jonathan
[/quote]



[quote author=Arosa:

is vandalism not a crime?

Rhino.5dm:

I just pee on GEJ poster and called him a drunken useless fisherman. so fvcking what??

fvck all PDP and mutherfvcking thieves, if you down with PDP fvck you too.

SSS i will be on my way to beijing tomorrow.

Violating a "Post No Bill" code and spray painting an Ad poster are both Vandalism.

Ileke-IdI:

First of all: EWWWWW! They never look good

This is highly immature and unprofessional of a "democratic" politician. Seriously.

Hez cute though. and the lips are like jay z's and hes got white teeth. guess your inlove

obailala:

I might not know the law but my common sense tells me[b] it is an offense to deface anyone's campaign poster.[/b] This has nothing to do with GEJ

9ijaMan:

Thank God you gave yourself an out before making such an ignorant submission. There is no law in Nigeria against defacing posters. Posters are defaced everywhere in the world and it's only here in 9ja that we have people being arrested for it and in addition of trumped up charges of "insiting dislike for GEJ".
Buhari's posters have been defaced by PDP thugs, abeg tell us how many of such thugs GEJ don pick up. That's the second cleric GEJ has picked up in as many months. The people are watching!

Jarus:

I know this Imam. His mosque is situated inside GSS, Farfaru, Sokoto, which was used as our camp during our NYSC year. I have prayed Friday Juma'at under him in the past.

In all honesty though, I do not expect someone of his status in the society to be defacing anybody's posters.

obailala:

Posters are defaced everywhere in the world and so does that makes it right? Take note, I used the word offense and not crime.

Assuming you own a new business (be it a church, school, whatever) and you paste posters allover town for public sensitization. Then just a day after you paste posters, someone (probably a competitor) pays some small street kids to go allover town and rip off your posters. Do you really think there is nothing the law says about such an act?

GEJ team might be wrong for targeting those ripping his posters alone but I hate it when people just come out and say thrash that "there is nothing wrong in defacing posters"

oyb:

do these pro gejs even ealise that posters constitute pollution?

Sorry Bro, the laws simply say nothing about that. You are a Nigerian and should have access to the constitution of the Nation. If in doubt, talk to a lawyer. Since the Imam has not violated any Nigerian law, why the arrest? No one as said nothing is wrong with poster defacing, the argument is simple: does poster defacing amount to any crime against any law of the land?

In you funny example above, so the owners of the church, school or whatever will now go and engage the services of police to arrest anyone who defaces their posters?
Is defacing of posters wrong? Yes.
Does defacing of posters constitute a criminal offense? NO

GEJ continues to exhibit the the same traits of the deposed tyrants Egypt and Tunisia, where anyone who speaks against the government is simply arrested. We had a deputy Imam picked up earlier in the year, then Okey Ndibe was harrased at the airport in Lagos and now another cleric has been picked. In case you are not aware, the only common thing amongst these people is that they all spoke against GEJ's government. If this is not tyranny, then I don't know the meaning of the word.