ARMSTRONG ALLAHMAGANI, Bauchi
One person has been killed and one other injured after they were shot during the campaign rally of the gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) t Akuyam town in Misau Local Government Area of Bauchi State.
The Bauchi State Police Command confirmed the incident while speaking to journalists in a telephone conversation.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Ahmed Wakil, a Superintendent of Police, said that two injured people were rushed to the Federal Medical Center, Azare, Katagum LGA for treatment and that one of them died Tuesday morning at the hospital while receiving treatment.
He said: “Yesterday, at 8.30pm, the gubernatorial candidate of the APC, Air Marshal Abubakar Sadique, was on his way from Dambam local government area to Akuyam for a campaign. And on reaching Akuyam town, his entourage was attacked.
“As a result of that, his escorts opened fire and two persons namely Saleh Garba aged 35 years and Yakubu Yunusa, 20 years old, all of Akuyam village. They were shot and were evacuated to the Federal Medical Center, Azare for treatment. Today (Tuesday), we received a confirmation that one of them was dead while receiving treatment.
“The Commissioner of Police, CP Aminu Alhassan, commiserates with the family of the deceased and prays to Allah to grant him eternal rest, and may he grant the family the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss. He has directed for a discreet investigation to commence in earnest.”
Meanwhile, reports available to our Correspondent indicated that the incident created serious tension in the town as some of the residents scampered for safety.
NATIONAL ACCORD reports that on Sunday night, Sadique Abubakar and his campaign team were on their way to Akuyam town from Gwaram town to campaign, when he turned back from entering the town because of the tension that was brewing.
Some of the vehicles in his convoy that were already inside the town ahead of the gubernatorial candidate had to pass through. They however, suffered attacks as some of their vehicles were damaged.
The next day, Monday, Abubakar and his campaign team returned to the area to campaign when another clash led to the injury of an unspecified number of people.
Several gunshots were fired by the security team attached to the APC gubernatorial candidate, a retired Chief of Air Staff and a former Ambassador of Nigeria to Chad, to scare away the youths, who were armed with knives, sticks, machetes and other dangerous weapons.
The security attached to the Campaign Team comprises of the Department of State Service, the Nigeria Police Force, Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corp, the Nigerian Army and many private security outfits including hunters. However, it was unclear who fired the shots.
But in a swift reaction, the Campaign Council of the APC Gubernatorial Candidate, had condemned the incident, claiming that about 20 of their vehicles were damaged during the attack.
Speaking in an interview with journalists in Azare, the Director Media and Communications, Air Marshal Sadique Baba Abubakar, Salisu Barau, said that they did not attack anyone, adding however, that “it was the opposition that attacked us.”
Barau, a former Commissioner of Information in Bauchi State under the then Yuguda administration, said despite the fact that they were attacked, they pleaded with their supporters not to fight back.
He said: “I was not there but from the information we gathered, we were able to confirm from the incident of yesterday, that our people were attacked and about 15 to 20 cars were smashed. Some people from our own side got injured.
“I personally noticed that there were some people on trees throwing stones and all those attacks were on us not on any other person in Akuyam that was the first day. We were able to escape out of the town.
“From all the information I gathered, it was confirmed to me that our people were attacked yesterday like they were attacked the day before and they tried to escape from that side.”
Asked who it was that carried out the attack, he said that “it was the opposition that carried out the attack.
When asked to be specific on which “opposition” he was referring to, he said: “It was clear that it was the opposition that attacked us because we cannot attack ourselves.
“You cannot be your own attacker and as far as we are concerned, the opposition party attacked us. There are many opposition parties, there’s the NNPP, the PRP and the PDP. It is now left for you to know who attacked us. Though we were attacked and our cars were damaged, we asked our people not to retaliate.
“We were in Misau, nothing happened, along all the routes leading to Misau, we were at Darazo, we stopped at Sade, came to Hardawa, all those times that we were there, we attacked nobody and nobody attacked us.”
Speaking on the incident, the Media Aide to the gubernatorial candidate, said that their convoy was first attacked on Sunday night when they earlier went to Akuyam town to campaign.
Barau who refuted reports that anybody was killed in the incident, said: “I didn’t hear that anybody was killed nor did I see anybody being killed. On what happened at Akuyam yesterday (Monday), let me take you back to the day before yesterday, Sunday.
“Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar who’s contesting the gubernatorial election under the APC, like any other candidate, is a Nigerian and is qualified to contest the election and has the right to campaign for votes in any part of the state.
“We set out to go to Akuyam that Sunday, unfortunately, when we were approaching there, we were accosted by some hoodlums who were trying to cause confusion by throwing stones and beating people. Those who were already in the town were attacked by some hoodlums, in fact, about 15 to 20 cars were destroyed.
“When the Air Marshal who was still behind learnt of the incident, he asked everybody to stop and retreat in order to avoid any unwholesome situation. So those who were already in the town, had to pass through it to get to Sade and then to Azare, and it was them that were attacked,” he stated.
Adding, he said: “As a contestant, he had to go back to Akuyam because there is no town in this state that a contestant will be barred from going to campaign in. The General (Sadique Abubakar) is a peace-loving person and had the right to campaign, so he decided to return to the place, but when he went there, the same group of youths set out to attack again. Suddenly, they started attacking people.
“Despite being a 3-star retired general, who has security because he is entitled to protection, let alone being a Nigerian and a contestant for that matter who is guaranteed by the Constitution to contest election, he made sure that there was peace and tranquility throughout his stay in Akuyam.”
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