Nigeria Content Online

At least 10,000
people have been displaced in Kano State following the crisis that
engulfed some northern states shortly after last Saturday’s
presidential elections, the director general of the National Emergency
Management Agency (NEMA) has said.

Mohammed Sani-Sidi,
who led a Special Presidential Committee on the Plight of Displaced
People to the Kano State police commissioner, Dan’Azumi Doma, also said
not less than 100 people were arrested in connection with the crisis.

The NEMA boss, who
commended the swift response of security agencies in controlling the
situation, told the displaced people that the team was undertaking
on-the-spot assessment inspection of the trouble spots.

He assured them
that the government would continue to protect and provide basic need of
people in the Internally Displaced Peoples Camps (IDPCs) pending the
return of normalcy to the affected communities.

“President Jonathan
has directed that we should ensure you are adequately provided with the
basic needs as relief materials are being transported to various
locations to improve the condition and plights of innocent people,” he
said. “So far, many more trucks are being dispatched from our strategic
warehouses to meet the demand. However, from the preliminary reports by
response agencies, the crises were neither religious nor ethnic, so we
should be cautious of inputting sectional sentiments into this.”

No gatherings permitted

Mr Doma told the committee that though properties were destroyed and many injured, there was no loss of life in the state.

“There was no
single record of death from the recent incident in Kano and no single
corpse was deposited in the mortuary,” he said.

Mr Doma has,
however banned all forms of political gathering in the state, saying
the police would deal with anyone violating the order.

“No form of
political gathering, including rallies and campaigns would be condoned
until after the governorship election,” he said.

Mr Doma, who urged
leaders of political parties in the State to strictly abide by the
directive in the interest of peace and stability, said the action was
part of measures taken by the police to checkmate the spread of the
violence and reduce apprehension and anxiety among the people,
particularly those taking refuge at military and police barracks.

Mr. Doma also pleaded with parents to caution their children and wards against committing acts capable of breaching the peace.

“The Command and
indeed other security agencies have commenced investigation to
apprehend the sponsors and the brains behind the dastardly acts, no
matter how highly placed they are in society,” he said.