Jigawa State Governor Umar Namadi has declared a 24-hour indefinite curfew following the escalation of violence during the nationwide protests on Thursday.
In a personal announcement, Governor Namadi justified the curfew by stating that Jigawa is a Muslim-majority state, where protests are deemed un-Islamic and contrary to local culture and tradition. He emphasized that Muslims believe only Allah (God) has the power to cause hardship, implying that human actions, such as protests, are ineffective in addressing grievances.
The governor said, “Today we woke up to a serious protest. That is not part of our culture and tradition. We feel that this protest will not be a solution to what people are demanding and are asking for. We are all Muslims and we believe nobody in this world can put hardship on us except Allah, and it is only Allah that rescues us from hardship. Therefore, protest is not a solution and should not be a solution. We realized how people use small boys to achieve their objective of vandalizing and stealing people’s properties. This is not part of our culture and tradition. Therefore, we feel as a government, we will not allow this thing to continue unabated and as a result of that, from now, we are introducing a 24-hour curfew in Jigawa State. This curfew will continue up to the time we have reviewed the situation with the security agencies and we feel like it is time to relax it. For the sake of Friday, we are relaxing the curfew from 12pm to 2:30pm to allow people to go to the Mosques and pray for the state and for the nation. After 2:30pm, the curfew will continue. We pray that people will obey this curfew and ensure that they stay at home and observe the curfew.”
SaharaReporters had reported that the All Progressives Congress (APC) state secretariat in Dutse, Jigawa’s capital, was burnt on Thursday amid the widespread hijacking of the #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria protest in the state. The protests, which began as part of the nationwide #EndBadGovernance movement against hardship and hunger, escalated across over 10 major towns in Jigawa.
No fewer than 10 people were injured when police fired teargas to disperse hoodlums who had infiltrated the protests. In the Hadejia area, four individuals were hospitalized due to injuries and suffocation from the teargas. Government-owned agricultural stores were also looted in the area.
In Gumel town, hoodlums vandalized and looted the Jigawa State Agricultural Supply Company (JASCO) store, a private residence of a House of Representatives member, and the home of the APC zonal vice chairman. One woman in Gumel sustained injuries from a teargas canister and was taken to Gumel General Hospital.
In Birnin Kudu, hoodlums vandalized and looted the State Fertilizer Store and Grains Store while blocking major roads, including the Kano-Maiduguri Highway.