In Katsina, Police arrest coalition leader for organising protest against Buhari over insecurity

The Nigerian Police have reportedly detained Nastura Ashir Sharif, leader of the Coalition of Northern Groups, CNG, for organising peaceful protest in Katsina on Tuesday.

A statement by the CNG on its Facebook page, Wednesday, June 17, 2020, said he was arrested and moved to Abuja shortly after the peaceful protests in Katsina.

“Nastura Ashir Sharif, chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG), is currently being detained at the Nigeria Police Force HQ, Abuja. “He is against killing of helpless citizens by bandits”, the post reads.

A member of the Coalition, who spoke to DailyTrust Newspaper, said he was taken from Katsina to Abuja by the state commissioner of police. “The commissioner of police told him that the Inspector General wanted to see him in Abuja and they went together.

“After reaching Abuja they detained him in their headquarters”, he said. The Coalition had earlier said in an interview, that the protest is the only language the government can listen to for proper action against the killings in the North. Thousands of youths had on Tuesday in Katsina took part in a peaceful protest asking President Muhammadu Buhari and Governor Aminu Bello Masari to resign.

They expressed reservations over rising insecurity across the state, the North West and Nigeria at large. The youths, under the auspices of CNG, said that the federal government and the North West state governors had failed to tackle the spate of killings by bandits in the region. Similar protest was launched in Niger State where the protesters called for action by the federal government to stem the rising insecurity.

NewsWireNGR recalls that on Tuesday, Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari, begged residents in his home state, Katsina, not to protest incessant attacks on their communities by armed bandits.

Buhari in a statement signed by Garba Shehu, his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, on Tuesday said protests would mar military operations already underway in the state.

Residents in Katsina in recent days have embarked on major protests to demand an end to the killings that have made their lives unbearable.

The statement reads, “The Presidency assures Nigerians that the nation’s armed forces are fully capable of dealing with the challenges of banditry and terrorism, urging more patience as the military takes appropriate steps to block gaps being exploited to unleash mayhem on innocent citizens. 

“President Muhammadu Buhari, who has approved a joint military and police operation specifically targeted at combing Niger, Kaduna, Katsina, Zamfara and Sokoto states to rid the areas of bandits, assures that surveillance will be improved, with more night vision aircrafts already deployed under “Operation Accord’’.

“The operation was launched three weeks ago. Nigeria’s military has displayed its capabilities in the past and will show it again by dealing with the current challenges.”