In just less than eight days before the governorship and state house of assembly elections, as declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), many people believed to be supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) were involved in a serious brawl that left many injured.
An investigation by BusinessDay found out that thugs from both political parties clashed on Thursday in Duguri, the country home of Governor Bala Mohammed Abdulkadir of Bauchi State.
The resulting clash left 15 persons in critical condition and presently in the hospital.
Speaking to the press at the government house over the incident, Farouk Mustapha, director general of the PDP campaign council of the governor, said that APC members in the state sent thugs to attack their members.
Mustapha said, “Today is one of the saddest days in the political history of Bauchi State. All of the gubernatorial candidates of the various parties signed the peace accord at the State Police Command headquarters with all security agencies, as has been the practice in every election year.
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“The APC gang leaders who led today’s thuggery unleashed terror and intimidation on the people of Duguri Town; they were chanting abusive words and breaking all PDP billboards carrying His Excellency’s pictures; buses; PDP offices; and Keke NAPEP were all burnt down by the thugs.”
Reacting to the incident, SP Ahmed Wakili, Bauchi State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), stated that, “Today, an APC gubernatorial candidate went out on a rally at about 17.4500 hrs., while in Duguri Village, under Yuli-Yin Ward, Alkaleri Local Government Area, violence ensued during the rally in which 14 people were injured. Among the 14 injured, six were taken to the Primary Health Care Center in Duguri, where they were treated and discharged.”
“Among the eight that were treated and discharged were Suleiman Adamu, Danlami Musa, Kabiru Sani, Rabi, Abdulrasheed Bala, and Tanko Wakilin Pawa, all residents of Duguri Village. These are the six that were taken to the health care center in Duguri,” SP Wakili added.
Wakil called on members of the public to be calm as the situation was under control. He promised that the police force was doing all it could to get hold of assailants and restore peace to the state.
Asked to react to allegations that two people were killed in the incident, he said: “I have mentioned all that were here; I mentioned six first that were injured, and I have mentioned eight that were transferred, of which one is in Duguri. I don’t have knowledge about anyone of them who is dead. All of them were taken to the hospital by the police, and up to this moment that I am giving you this report, none of them had died.”
Meanwhile, Salisu Barau, the director of media and publicity for the APC Campaign Council in the state, praised the police for their timely intervention in distancing the party from any attachment to those involved in causing mayhem and destabilizing the peace in the state.
Barau said, “Where, in an attempt to disarm the thugs and retrieve the guns from them, three people were shot: one from the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps; one from a vigilance group; and one from the hunters union.
“However, the NSCDC operatives succeeded in recovering two Dan Wesson guns from the thugs while others escaped with their own guns. The victims who sustained gunshot injuries are currently receiving medical attention at the ATBU Teaching Hospital, Bauchi.
He added by narrating that a similar incidence happened in the past when the convoy of Air Marshal Sadique was attacked at Akuyam, the home village of the state chairman of PDP.
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