Insecurity: Protesters storm Kano NUJ

By Uche Mbah

Protesters, Wednesday, stormed the office of the Nigerian Union of Journalists, NUJ, Kano State, to drive home their anger over the state of the nation, and the worsening insecurity in the North.

There has been palpable anger in the region that the insecurity in the North has been under reported, with the press calling terrorists bandits to massage their ego.

But the rampaging youths were stopped by heavily armed security personnel made up of police and Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC).

However, the anger of the youths, this magazine gathered, stem from the alleged plan by the Federal Government to increase fuel pump price, a rumor that has caused great disquiet especially during this Yuletide season.

Several security vehicles were used to barricade the premises of the NUJ, with security agents in combat gear. Protesters were  forced to assemble at a distance.

They were later to march to the gate of the Secretariat, though they  were not permitted to enter because of the locked gates.

One of the leaders of the protesters, Comrade Jamilu Aliyu Charanchi, North West Coordinator, Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) presented and read a communiqué, which reads in part:

“That the excuses adduced by the Federal Government and its cronies in the pretext of rival of subsidy and promise of a N5,000 palliative to 40 million Nigerians are unfounded lies, unwarranted, fake, impracticable, ill-intended and unacceptably disgusting.

“The current administration of President Muhammadu Buhari and all the 36 state Governments have failed totally in the major areas of providing security of lives and properties of citizens and ensuring a secure economic environment in the North in particular.

“That the problems and sufferings in the North today without being compounded by a further hike in prices of essential commodities and mobility are traceable only to inept and insensitive leadership at national and state levels as well as the cowardice of other community and religious leaders who lack the courage to stand up to them in the interest of the people of the region and Nigeria.”