by Lekan Olanrewaju

The streets of Jigawa aren’t safe if you’re the head of the electoral board of the country. Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Professor Attahiru Jega learned this the hard way yesterday, when he was the victim of a mob attack while moving through the city of Kazaure.

He had been in the city to attend the wedding fatiha of the daughter of the Emir of Kazaure, Alhaji Najib Hussaini Adamu and was on his way home when his convoy was heckled and stoned by members of the public. He was reportedly being accused of participating in rigging of the last elections.

An eyewitness who spoke to Tribune said, “Jega first came out to leave the venue, but immediately he was identified by hundreds of youths that were waiting for Buhari to come out, they started shouting and started throwing stones and sachets of water at his (Jega’s) convoy.”

He also pointed out that former Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari, who arrived a while later, was received warmly by the people. “It was God that saved the situation,”  the witness said. “When the stoning started, Buhari came out and attention was turned. He was receiving cheers from the people, while the police had a hectic time dispersing the people.”

The commissioner of police, Mr Kayode Theophilus, however said that he was unaware of any trouble in Kazaure. “The report we have is, there was a wedding fatiha for the emir’s daughter which was attended by important personalities and it ended peacefully. I spoke to the Kazaure zonal commander and he confirmed to me that nothing happened to anybody. All of them left without any problem.”

“All I know is that police were there,” the police commissioner continued. “They would have done their job perfectly. As you know, their primary duty is to protect lives and property of the people and they will not relent or deviate from doing that.”