Kano worst hit by protest -Emir Sanusi

16th Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, on Friday, said Kano was the worst hit by the #EndBadGovernance protest which was supposed to be peaceful.

He condemned the violence that erupted in the state on Thursday despite appeals by Governor Abba Yusuf for a peaceful demonstration.

The reinstated emir stated this while addressing newsmen at the palace, Kofar Kudu.

Further condemning the needless violence which led to loss of lives, injuries and destructions of properties, Sanusi described the incident as a major set back for Kano State.

The monarch called on the protesters to discontinue with the protest and not to allow themselves to be deceived.

“The violence of yesterday was what scholars and leaders kept warning against the possibility that miscreants and agents of destruction would hijack peaceful demonstrations and use the opportunity to cause mayhem which led to loss of lives and destruction of properties and injuries to countless people.

“As we said during the stakeholders meeting, any violence in Kano only hurts Kano, it hurts innocent people. The young people who died are our children, the properties that were burnt and stolen belongs to the people of Kano.

“We have set ourselves back. The printing press that was burnt will have to be rebuilt, the machines will have to be bought and these are funds that could have gone into youth empowerment, into poverty alleviation, into education, healthcare and nutrition and for addressing the very problems that we are protesting against.

“The Digital Centre of excellence that was built by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) was aimed at educating our youths to give them digital training and preparing them for examinations.

“I had personally spoken to the Minister and I am aware that the minister was due to come in next week to commission this centre along with the Governor.

“We have vandalised and destroyed the computers; we have wasted hundreds of millions of Naira that is supposed to be investment in human capital.

“North and Kano in particular were the most affected by consequences of the protest.

“I am calling on people of Kano not to allow themselves to repeat what happened yesterday or to be deceived into continuing with this kind of mayhem.

“Parents should advise their children, Ward heads, district heads and imams should call on our people and let them understand that this violence only hurts Kano, only sets Kano back and nobody is going to come and fix our problems.

“We pray to Allah to have mercy on the souls that have passed away, to restore the wealth of those who have been looted or vandalised, to grant good health to those who are injured in a short time.

“Let us continue to persevere. Kano has witnessed difficult times before, it has gone through worse than this and it has risen.

“Let us revive the Kano spirit of strength, of perseverance and upholding steadfast onto God who will lift us up and out of this even stronger.

“We pray to Allah to support all those who mean well for Kano and to be our protector and sufficient guardian against all of those who wish us evil.

“We call on the people to maintain the peace, to corporate with security agencies, to report any suspicious activity by human beings.

“When people steal goods they always find a buyer, let us try and refuse to buy stolen goods and instead encourage those young men and women to return those goods to their owners.