By Eric Elezuo

There’s palpable tension in Kano State as residents await the Supreme Court judgement on the governorship election result tussle involving the incumbent governor, who is a member of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Abba Kabir Yusuf, and the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Nasir Yusuf Gawuna, who both the Election Petitions Tribunal and the Appeal Court have declared winner.

Consequently, the Nigeria Police Force, Kano Command, has again vowed to take strong measures against any planned protests and anything that would truncate the peace being enjoyed in the state.

Speaking as the two major political parties, the New Nigerian People’s Party, NNPP, and the All Progressives Congress, APC, were made to re-sign a peace accord, the Police Commissioner, Muhammad Usaini Gumel, minced no words in telling the parties that the full weight of the law would be unleased on any individual, no matter how highly placed, who is found to have sponsored, participated or engineered others to cause a breach of peace.

The Commissioner further hinted that the State Joint Security Committee was in place to make sure that anybody under any guise that went against the signed peace accord would surely have himself to blame.

The police chief expressed anger that despite the peace agreement, some faceless groups were hellbent on creating chaos and uncertainty in the ancient city.

“We will not allow anybody, no matter his place in the society, to cause disharmony and violence among Kano citizens who are peace loving people,” he said.

Speaking, the Chairman of the NNPP, Hashimu Dungurawa and the State Deputy Chairman of APC, Shehu Maigari, disagreed on who was responsible for what happened after the first and second signing of peace accords in the State.

Hashimu Dungurawa, the NNPP State Chairman, accusing the APC members as those inciting violence, said his party and indeed the State Governor, Alhaji Abba Kabir Yusuf have been working in tandem with the security to ensure peace.

However, the APC Deputy Chairman, Shehu Maigari, said everyone was aware of who to blame for the loss of lives and the violent protests in the state, adding that his party had nothing to worry about.

It would be recalled that protests and tensions have remained the hallmark of the ancient city since the Tribunal on September 20, 2023 ruled that Kabir was not election by the lawful votes. The verdict was upheld by the Appeal Court on November 17 thereby escating the protests.

On November 25, when it was discovered that the pronouncements of the Appeal Court justices and the official Certified True Copy (CTC) of the judgment, were at variance, more protests were witnessed in the metropolis and its environs with the demonstrators denouncing the recent judgment of the Court Appeal that sacked Governor Yusuf

The News Agency of Nigeria reported that uneasy calm pervaded the state capital following a reported contradiction.

Following the reported discrepancies, the city witnessed violent protests on Wednesday, during which the police arrested seven.

There had also been threats by political parties to troop to the streets in protest, which the police strongly warned against.

In what appeared like a coordinated action, The Punch reported that a huge crowd of protesters stormed strategic positions in the city, a situation that resulted in temporary hiccups in commercial activities.

The protests were held in spite of warnings by the police earlier in the day that protests were not allowed.

The Kano-Zaria Road, Maiduguri Road by the Muhammadu Buhari’s Interchange, and Kantin Kwari (Kano textile market) were taken over by hundreds of youths who called for justice for Governor Yusuf.

The protesters carried placards, some of which had inscriptions such as “Kano my city, my state;” “Justice for Kano;”“Justice for Abba;” “Abba’s mandate was stolen in 2019, we will not allow it happen in 2023;” among others.

The protest came on the heels of the discovery by the police that “some faceless group is bent on unleashing violence in Kano,” stressing that the police were on top of the situation.

The Commissioner of Police in Kano State, Hussaini Gumel, had earlier told newsmen in Kano that already seven suspects had been arrested and would be arraigned soon.

“We have the understanding with the leadership of the contending political parties, and they have signed a peace pact, in view of that therefore, anyone found outside this arrangement will be treated as common criminals,” Gumel had said.

Gumel also called on residents to ignore calls for the closure of markets and streets by some ‘troublemakers.’

He said the police had received intelligence on plans by ‘some unpatriotic citizens to foment trouble under the guise of gathering to offer special prayers.’

“It was also brought to our notice that some people were circulating letters on social media calling for the closure of markets and other commercial activities in the state,” he added.

Gumel said the same group of people “are trying to begin the use of social media in sending negative and poisonous messages against police and other security agencies on the ongoing peace efforts we are embarking on.

“I appeal to residents not to hesitate to report any person or group found circulating any form of information that could cause violence to the nearest security outfits for prompt action.”

However, normalcy later returned to the ancient city following the peaceful protest that lasted several hours.

While the Police battle to keep the Police in the state, it is still not known the magnitude of protests that will erupt if the Supreme Court upholds the judgments of the lower courts.