From AKIN ALOFETEKUN, Minna and DESMOND MGBOH, Kano
Friday, April 22, 2011


• Buhari
Photo: Sun News Publishing
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Presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), General Muhammadu Buhari (retd) was yesterday prevented from entering Suleja by security agents.
The motorcade of the former military leader was stopped at Madalla and he was told he could not proceed to Suleja.
Buhari was on his way to Suleja to pay a condolence over the penultimate Friday bomb blast that claimed the lives of some 13 persons.

Chairman of the CPC in Niger State, Alhaji Shuaibu Umar told Daily Sun in Minna that the police mounted a roadblock between Madalla and Diko junction where Buhari was turned back.

Police Public Relations Officer in Niger State, ASP Richard Adamu Oguche, said the security situation in Niger State did not permit allowing Buhari entry into any part of the state. He described the CPC candidate as a free citizen of the country but said the security situation would not allow such a visit to Niger State at the very moment.

Meanwhile, the Kano State Police Command has imposed a ban on all political rallies and political gatherings in the state until after the conduct of the gubernatorial elections, saying any political party that goes against the ban will be prosecuted according to the law. The state police commissioner, Mr. Dan’azumi Doma, made this disclosure at a press briefing in Kano yesterday, adding that they were determined to implement the directive to the letter.

The position of the police may not be unconnected with the rumour that the CPC presidential candidate, General Buhari (retd) may be visiting the state to raise the hand of General Jafaru Isa, the recently court-declared gubernatorial candidate of the party in the state. Doma disclosed that over 100 suspects had been arrested and interrogated in connection with the poll violence in the state, adding that the suspects had been charged to court, which had remanded some of them in prison custody.

He said the police and the rest of the security agencies were determined to probe deep to identify and apprehend the sponsors of the dastardly act, noting that no matter how highly placed, anybody found wanting would be prosecuted along with their agents and conspirators. He warned that the act of brigandage and hooliganism must not be allowed to continue as security agencies were ready to deal with hooligans and mischief makers in the state.

He equally warned rumour-mongers and alarmists to desist from spreading rumour capable of escalating tension in the state. Besides, he cautioned parents and guardians to ensure that their children and wards did not allow themselves to be used to foment trouble by mischief-makers.