Week of blood

Sun News

24 April 2011

Week of blood

•15,000 living as refugees

•Rioters invade female hostel

•We hid in the ceiling –Corps members

From Desmond Mgboh, Kano and NOAH EBIJE, Kaduna

Unless there are people who believe that guns are used to create lawns, the April 18 sectarian riot in the ancient city of Kano cannot, by any measure, pass off as an accident. It was one crisis whose signs was everywhere.

Before the ill-fated day, a number of inciting text messages was making the rounds. Also, there was this false sense of victory already imparted on the members of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), which suggested danger in the event that Buhari fails.

But the worst of them all was the philosophy of the CPC as a party. Some of the statements linked to the party at some of its rallies in the last few months lacked nobility, especially the ones that urged their supporters to make sure they monitor their votes, to follow officials until their votes are counted and to defend their votes against any attempt to rig them out by any means.

The spreading wildfire revolution raging across the Arab world has become a reference point for many a Muslim community in the state, with its attending ugly influence on the rioters. Many of them saw their unguarded exploit over the years in this light, especially given that the same protest had already began in a number of states in Northern Nigeria – Gombe, Katsina, Bauchi, Sokoto, and Kaduna states.