Katsina Burns As Goodluck Wins

The orgy of violence which erupted Monday morning in Kaduna State over ongoing announcement of results of last Saturday’s Presidential election has spread to Katsina State with the burning and looting of shops within the Katsina metropolis and its environs.

The state government in a swift move imposed a curfew on the state from 9am to 7pm tonight to contain the violence.

The residence of the members of the National Youth Service Corps in Daura was burnt down while churches were also razed by suspected political thugs while shops and homes of well known opposition politicians were also razed in the violence.

Three church buildings were also burnt down in the orgy of violence. The demonstrators were protesting the outcome of the presidential elections in which President Goodluck Jonathan emerged winner.

Daura, which is the home town of Presidential candidate of Congress for Progressive Change, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari is about an hour’s drive from Katsina, the state capital.
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Although Katsina is quiet and peaceful after Sunday’s violent demonstration by angry youths protesting the killing of a young man in the Kofar Marusa area of the city, towns such as Kankara, Funtua, and Malumfashi were engulfed in fresh violence on Monday afternoon.

Police Public Relations Officer, Ibrahim Abubakar, told newsmen that the command had deployed its men in Daura and is assessing the situation in Malumfashi, where several houses were burnt on Monday afternoon.

P.M News learnt that the home of the former local government chairman was burnt and other party chieftains in the area. The Commissioner for Police, has moved to Malumfashi to get first hand information on the situation.

Mohammed had beefed up security and cordoned off the commercial areas of the state capital on Sunday to stop the looting of shops and other businesses in the Kofar Marusa area of the city after a policeman shot and killed a young man.

State Governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Shema, called for calm with a warning that those fomenting trouble would face the full wrath of the law.

In a broadcast to the people of the state on radio and television, Shema said reports reaching him indicated that miscreants had unleashed violence in Funtua and Malumfashi.
He said he had directed the combined security agencies in the state to be on the alert.
“This violence has no excuse; as a result, I have directed all security agencies to ensure that they patrol the whole state continuously and arrest anybody planning, violence, arson or murder.  This is a peaceful state,” Shema said.

The governor, who said the curfew would remain in force until the circumstances in the state improved, urged all residents of the state at be on the alert and to report any suspicious incidents to the security agencies for immediate necessary action.

By Nnamdi Felix / Katsina