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From Desmond Mgboh, Kano
By its planning, the #Endbadgovernance protest in Kano State on August 1, 2024 was supposed to be peaceful, orderly and well – executed, without rash or rancor. But it turned out differently, shaded by pains, anguish, destruction and shootings with drops of blood.
The Nigeria Patriotic Front Movement (NPFM), organisers of the protest, said the original venue of the protest was the Sani Abacha Stadium, Kofar-Mata. But given the expressed concerns of the traders of Katin- Kwari Market, situated nearby, the venue was shifted to the Gidan Murtala junction- a venue that could accommodate the expected crowd and take the protest away from the market area.
Ahead of the protest, there were efforts to ensure that it was peaceful. The police, including sister security outfits, mobilised themselves to deter trouble makers. Long convoys of security vans and trucks, with heavily kitted personnel, rode across the city in a show of force.
Although the organisers had set forth to speak “big Englishes and grammar” about the hunger and sufferings of the masses, they had no intention to undermine security. All these collaborated to assure Kano residents of peace and normalcy ahead of the protest Thursday, a day before, when it became obvious the protest could not be halted by persuasion or subtle intimidation, Governor Abba Kabiru Yusuf convened a stakeholders’ meeting.
Graced by all shades of opinion- makers, including traditional rulers and community leaders, the meeting appraised the intending protest and its implications. It was in this spirit that the governor extended invitation to the protesters to come to with their demands for onward delivery to the Presidency.
In his thinking, dialoguing with them, rather than shunning or confronting them was a subtle way of taking the heat off the protest and ensuring that there was no loss of life or property. But he was wrong as the protest turned the exact opposite.
Daily Sun observed that as early as dawn on the date, hundreds of protesters began to converge at different locations of the ancient city, preparatory to meeting at the Government House. They flooded everywhere, emerging in mass from Brigade, Dakata, Jaba, Tarauni, Zaria Road, Hadejia Road, Dan Agundi, Sheka, Zoo- Road, Fagge and Kurna with clubs, sticks, placards and unspoken intention to loot.
The protesters, some of whom knew nothing about the issues at stake, marched valiantly through the pedestal lanes, lonely streets, and sometimes crossing compounds and private premises- with utter anger and hate, not just against the policies of President Tinubu but against the elites and the rich. They abused the system, stoned at random and chanting objections to the present administration.
One of the initial areas to witness outright stealing was a supermarket along Zoo Road. Although the police were able to disperse them in good time, soon it became obvious that other supermarkets and major shops were in danger. And soon came the news that Barakat Supermarket located around Government House had been looted by hoodlums. Beyond the stores, many personal properties, business premises as well as public infrastructure were either destroyed or looted by the protesters.
One of such facilities was an ICT park, belonging to the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC). The facility was billed for commissioning on August 6. But the protesters changed that history. They invaded, vandalised and carted away premium valuables within the structure.
But the biggest fight on that dark Thursday took place at the Government House, where the confrontation was not just scary, but actually led to undisclosed number of casualties. The security personnel fought back as it became obvious that the intention of some of the protesters was to invade the Government House.
Several canisters of tear gas were unleashed on the protesters, but they were unfazed. Rather, they surged back and returned the canisters to the security personnel. As the clock edged towards noon, the protesters became emboldened and defiant. It took a reinforcement of security architecture, made up of soldiers and the Department of State Service to clear the mess.
Daily Sun gathered that the soldiers mounted their trucks, flushed at them with a pump of warm water, released more tear gas, and fired warning shots, among others. Were there injuries? Yes there were. But there is no official figure as at press time.
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Daily Sun investigation revealed that there were different categories of protesters on that Thursday. They consisted of those who hijacked the protest and gave it an intellectual bend and those who were deployed to counter the protest by persons believed to be working for the powers that be. There were also protesters who were angry with the state government as well as those whose motive was just to steal and loot.
NPFM alleged: “Some unnamed persons, deployed a presidential appointee to Kano State with cash and arms to thwart the 200,000 strong peaceful protest on August 1 against bad governance in the country.
“The so -called counter protest backfired. It only succeeded in strengthening the sentiment against the present neo-liberal order.
“We still cannot provide a full count of the casualties. Our field teams are still trying to compile an independent and credible body count, including serious and mild injuries.
“The estimated property loss could run into several millions. Yet the masterminds of this level of crime against Kano citizens are still roaming the state and the country freely… the culprits must be held accountable irrespective of their station in life.”
But there are other lines of thoughts accounting for why the protest took a violent turn in the state. Former commissioner for Rural Development, Musa Illyasu Kwankwaso, said governor Yusuf should be held responsible for the escalation of the protest.
He argued that by inviting the protesters to Government House, the governor worsened the colour of the protest while urging the victims to seek the services of competent lawyers and seek redress.
State chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Abbas, traced the escalation of the protest to the doorpost of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP). He said the governor’s invitation to the protesters, “coupled with his careless comments undermining the authority of the police in the state encouraged the arson and looting that took place during the protest.
“Kano being an opposition state, politics played a part in the decision of the governor to invite the protesters to Government House.”
Abubakar Sani Sumaila also told Daily Sun that part of the reasons behind the turn of events was rooted in the existing background issues: “At the moment, Kano is a deeply fractionalised state. “It is only natural that any opportunity for people to ventilate their confined anger, would explode like a loose cannon.
“There is the sharp divide between APC and NNPP, there is sharp divide between their followers in almost every quarters and communities in the city, there are grudges, hurts and anger in every part of the state. What do you expect?
“There are those who are gravely offended by the handling of the emirate crisis. Although some emirates were revived, they came back as second-class emirates, with vastly diminished status. Their people are unhappy but there is nothing they can do.
“There are also the property demolitions, who are still counting their losses. You cannot have this sort of background sentiment at play in addition to pangs of hunger in the populace and still expect your protest to be peaceful.”
