The Sallah celebrations were almost marred in Kano at the
weekend as suspected thugs attacked supporters of former Governor Rabiu Musa
Kwankwanso leaving no fewer than 50 of them seriously wounded...
The crisis made hundreds of celebrants at the annual traditional
Hawan Dausche dubar at the Emir’s Palace to scamper for safety, as prominent
personalities received machete cuts.
Former Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Rabiu
Suleiman Bichi; Yahya Kwankwaso, younger brother to Senator Kwankwaso and former
Commission for Lands and Physical Planning, Yusuf Bello Danbatta, were among
those severely injured.
An eyewitness, Aminu Yakubu, said that trouble started when
some hoodlums invaded Kwankwaso loyalists during the traditional horse ride
with dangerous weapons.
Aminu said: “It was surprising to see so many thugs coming
into the arena while the audience was enjoying the traditional horse ride. They
started fighting and hitting people with knives and cutlasses. I counted more
than 50 people wounded.
Meanwhile, Dambatta had accused the state government and the
Metropolitan Kano Police Area Command of masterminding the attack.
His words: “We were at Asiyya Bayero Hospital opposite the
Emir’s Palace to witness the Durbar when the thugs came from nowhere and
attacked me and some other friends with cutlasses and some chemical spray. You
can see my knees and blood dripping from all over my body.”
Also, a former Special Adviser to Kwankwaso, Ghazali Musa
Obasanjo, who confirmed the development, said scores of youths who were injured
at the scene have been taken to the Murtala Muhammad Specialist Hospital while
some of them remained unconscious due to the cuts.
“We saw some youths with the pictures of Governor Abdullahi
Ganduje and that of Abbas Abdullahi among those that attacked us. I also saw
the member representing Municipal at the state Assembly, Baffa Baba Dangundi,
who personally hit Bichi on the head with a plank.
When contacted on the allegations against Ganduje,
Commissioner for Information, Muhammad Garba, denied knowledge of the attack on
anybody at the Hawan Daushe.
Mohammad said although there was intelligence report that
the Kwankwaso group planned to attack the governor, he alleged that an
orchestrated plan forced them to mobilise their members from Kaduna, Jigawa,
Katsina and Zamfara states to carry out the attack.
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