ARMSTRONG ALLAHMAGANI, Bauchi –
Hundreds of women and youths took to the streets of Tafawa Balewa Town, in Tafawa Balewa LGA of Bauchi State, to protest over the 21st memorial anniversary of the leader and crusader of the Sayawa people, late Peter Gonto, scheduled for Friday, 31st December.
The memorial anniversary has caused division among the Sayawa people in both Tafawa Balewa and Bogoro Local Government Areas of the state, following a letter written by Yakubu Dogara, a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, representing Dass/Tafawa Balewa/Bogoro Constituency to the Inspector General of Police, Usman Baba, over security concerns in the area, if the event is allowed to hold.
Following Dogara’s letter, several youth groups in the two LGAs have come out to show their support for and against the event.
While the Concerned Mwari Youth Forum, who told journalists at a press conference on Monday that the Dogara’s claim of security threats in the area was untrue, insisted that the event will hold as planned, another group, Mwari Youth Development Association (MWAYODA), on Tuesday, also addressed journalists at a press conference, and rejected the planned event, saying if it is allowed to hold, it will divide the Sayawa people and cause breakdown of security in the area
However, despite the warnings, the Bauchi State Command gave approval for the event to hold just as he ordered the full deployment of Police tactical teams to provide security to lives and properties before, during and after the memorial anniversary and book launch.
Our correspondent learnt that these did not go down well with majority of the people from the two LGAs as hundreds of them travelled to Tafawa Balewa town where they staged a peaceful protest on Thursday afternoon demanding the cancellation of the event.
Despite the heavy presence of combined team of security operatives made up of the Nigeria Police, Nigerian Army, the Department of State Service and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corp, the protesters marched round major streets in the town singing and chanting various songs of disapproval of the event with some of them carrying leaves and branches of trees.
A video of the protest obtained by our correspondent showed hundreds of the protesters marching round the town as vehicular and human movements were disrupted.
An elderly woman who spoke during the protest alleged that security personnel deployed to the town have been oppressing and humiliating them, saying: “If care is not taken and we are not adequately protected, our people will be cheated. We are very worried about the situation in Tafawa Balewa at the moment.
“We parents are not happy with the way things are turning out here because some of us were beaten and are being treated. Something very urgent must be done to prevent this land from serious crisis.”
A source who spoke in confidence to our correspondent from Tafawa Balewa Town in a telephone interview, said that a house has been set ablaze by hoodlums in the area, adding that there are fears that other houses may also be burnt.
“There has been tension in Tafawa Balewa and Bogoro LGAs as a result of this 21st memorial anniversary of Baba Peter Gonto which has created division among our people and it has even led to the burning down of a house.
“As I speak with you, the house of one Pharmacist is on fire right now. I don’t know why his house was burnt and who set it on fire. I haven’t been around, I just came back to hear of the incident and I rushed there to see if it was true. And I can confirm to you that the house is still on fire, they’ve not been able to put it off. In fact, there are fears that more houses could be set on fire with the way things are going,” he stated.
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