Emeute à Zaria au Nigeria juin 2009
Nigeria: Police Arrest 66 Over Zaria Riots
7 June 2009
Kaduna — sixty six persons have been arrested by the Kaduna State Police Command in connection with Monday’s demonstration organized by youths in Zaria to protest incessant power outage in the area.
The peaceful demonstration that turned violent paralyzed activities in Muchiya and Chikaji areas of Sabon Gari Local Government Area. The Deputy Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr. Isaac Eke dispelled reports that four persons died as a result of the protest, adding that the police did not use guns on the protesters. » Our men did not use guns on the protesting youths, they only used tear gas to disperse them. We were very surprised to read in the papers that four persons died, no body died during the protest last Monday. But we have received information that one of the youths who sustained injuries during the protest died while receiving treatment yesterday in the hospital, » he said. Among the 66 arrested is a former chairman of Sabon Gari, Alhaji Bashir Ibrahim Sakadadi. Meanwhile, the management of the PHCN has described the incident as unfortunate, saying it was the handiwork of some misguided elements and miscreants. A statement from the Head of Public Affairs of the Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company of PHCN, Mr. Baba Limmy said the incident should not be linked to the PHCN, saying its technical team had been working round the clock to rectify the power problem.
Nigeria: Zaria Uprising Not Caused By PHCN – CEO
8 June 2009
Disturbances that erupted in Sabon Gari Local Government Area of Kaduna State were not caused by the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) as power supply in the area has since been normalized, the Chief Executive Officer of the company in Kaduna, Engineer Suleiman A. Yahaya has said.
Irate youth in the area last Thursday protested against the role played by the chairman of Sabon Gari Local Government, Alhaji Kasimu Lawal Abasco in last May’s riot in the area that led to the death of four youths. During their demonstration, the youth attacked the entourage of the state governor, Alhaji Mohammed Namadi Sambo who was in the area to commission some projects executed by his administration and the local government.
Reacting to media report on the demonstration while speaking to Daily Trust at the weekend, he said the riots had no connection with the PHCN but that the perpetrators were only trying to cover up with the PHCN to unleash terror on the council chairman.
« The media should stop linking the riot in the area to us. Even during all these riots our staff were going about their normal duties and nobody tampered with our property, please stop linking these uprising to us in the interest of the principles of the journalism profession that emphasizes fair hearing to all, » he said.
He reiterated the commitment of his company to attend to complaints from its customers on issues of service delivery, saying « our doors are open and when I resumed office I promised to be operating an open door policy and I have been doing that hence the numerous successes we are recording. »
Engineer Yahaya while assuring customers that the company would not relent in improving on its services to put smiles on the faces of Nigerians, appealed to youth to always channel their complaints to appropriate quota for prompt response rather than taking the law into their hands.
Nigeria: Zaria Riots Not for Power Blackout – PHCN
7 June 2009
The management of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) yesterday said the protest organised by the youths in Zaria city which reportedly caused the death of four persons had nothing to do with power outage.
In a statement yesterday signed by the General Manager, Public Affairs, PHCN, Mrs Efuru Igbo, the company described the incident as purely political. She said the PHCN is constrained to state that the unfortunate incident in Zaria, Kaduna State on Monday, May 25, 2009, had nothing to do with power supply in the town.
The company explained that the 150 MVA primary breaker feeding Zaria Complex from Mando Transmission station Kaduna failed on the May 2, 2009 while arrangement was consequently made to supply electricity to Zaria from Kano Transmission station.
« As a result of this fault, supply to Zaria become inadequate and this resulted to load shedding on the only 45 MVA, 132/33 KV transformer in service. Consequent upon all these, on May 24, the Emir of Zazzau addressed the youths on the effort being made by PHCN to rectify the fault. It is therefore strange that a demonstration on the May 25th, 2009, could be linked to power outage issues that had since been settled amicably amongst stakeholders ».
PHCN said the power supply had since been restored following the repair of the faulty power equipment.
Mob Attacks Governor’s Convoy, Disrupts Tour
5 juin 2009
From Saxone Akhaine, Kaduna
IT was a rough deal for officials of the Kaduna State Government, who were on the entourage of Governor Namadi Sambo in Sabo Gari Local Council yesterday.
Hundreds of irate youths allegedly angry over developments in the council laid an ambush against the governor and his team.
The governor was in the area to commission projects executed by his administration and the council but the angry youths, bearing fresh leaves and placards and singing offensive songs took over the route and attempted to stop the ceremony.
They were later dispersed by the police, with intense shooting of tear gas to pave way for the governor and his entourage to escape.
The policemen from « Operation Yaki » in lorry loaded stormed Hayin Ojo, where Sambo was to commission the 3.2-kilometre Hayin Ojo-shika Dam Road. But the youths, who were more daring, pelted the governor’s entourage. They peeped into all the vehicles on the convoy to identify the council chairman, Alhaji Kasimu Abasco, whom they accused of maladministration.
For a long time, they resisted the tear gas canisters that were shot by police into the open air and vandalised some of the vehicles on the governor’s convoy. The Peugeot 406 security car with registration number BE85 MKA, conveying the council chief had its windscreen and rear lights smashed.
Following further security reports, Sambo and his entourage had to change their route to avoid other groups of youths, who were alleged to have barricaded the Chikaji Road, expected to link the convoy to the council secretariat at Dogorawa, where the governor was expected to commission a chalk and paint-making industry.
At Hayin Ojo-shika Dam Road, Sambo urged the people to avoid anything that could cause violence and pledged to address the problem of power supply that might have prompted crisis.
He said President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua had approved that the state government should use the dam being constructed in Kudan Local Council to generate 10 megawatts of electricity, adding that the people in the area would be among those to benefit from the project when completed.
Sambo also advised the youths to be law abiding and remain calm, stressing that no meaningful development could take place in an atmosphere characterised by chaos and violence.
The Emir of Zauzau, Dr. Shehu Idris admonished the youths not to allow themselves to be used by outsiders who were bent on destroying the peace in the council.
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