Buhari dissociates self from riots

The presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and former head of state, Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday condemned the spate of political unrest in the northern part of the country following last Saturday’s presidential elections and absolved himself and his party from any alleged involvement.

Most of the protesters praise the name of Mr Buhari, who has refused to acknowledge his loss to the President Goodluck Jonathan, and many people have criticised him for not speaking forcefully against the carnage.

But in the statement delivered yesterday by his spokesperson, Yinka Odumakin, the former military head of state described the attitude of the protesters as a “sad, unfortunate and totally unwarranted development.”

“I must say that this is a dastardly act not initiated by any of our supporters and therefore cannot be supported by our party,” he said. “To disassociate myself and the Congress for Progressive Change from any such act, I must emphasize that this is purely a political matter, and it should not in any way be turned into an ethnic, religious or regional one,” he said.

Going south

Meanwhile, as southerners in the northern part of the country flee southwards, NEXT has observed in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, that the number of those travelling northwards has also reduced.

Isah Abdul, a driver at the Saw Mill garage in Ilorin, said it had been difficult to fill buses. The first bus is not filled at this time,” he said late in the morning on Tuesday. “This is so unusual compared to the past.”

However, one of the passengers in the bus, Brown Billy, said he felt no need to postpone his trip. He also described the protests as bigger than an individual, claiming that protesting is always an avenue for miscreants to harm southerners and possibly loot properties.

“My wife and children are there. Do you now want me to stay here? Whatever it will cost me, I must go to Bida today,” he said.

A youth corps member in Katsina, Adesina Adebo, said the NYSC headquarters in the state has been in touch and promised them that the police are on alert and will ensure their safety. He however said a number of houses, including corpers lodge, were torched.

“Just pray for us,” he said. “I left my dad at home very sick and I don’t know how he might be feeling now. To say the worst, the network has been bad and I can’t reach them.”

A lawyer and election observer, Tony Adepoju, also said in Ilorin that security agencies need to improve their capacity for crisis prevention.

“I am always amazed when things like this happened. If you want to know the truth, I will simply urge our government to conduct a very thorough investigation into the incidents,” he said. “As far as I am concerned, it was not only in some areas that there were complaints of malpractices, so why violent response in those places?”