Kano State deputy governor asks for more security claiming his life is under threat

KANO State deputy governor Professor Hafiz Abubakar has written to the police and the Department of State Security (DSS) claiming that his life is in danger as he has faced threats due to his support for former governor Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso.

Over recent months, Kano has been at the centre of a brutal political battle as Senator Kwankwaso declared his intention to run for president, which put him at loggerheads with incumbent governor Abdullahi Ganduje. A former deputy to Senator Kwankwaso, Governor Ganduje remains loyal to President Muhammadu Buhari and as a result, he and his predecessor have been at loggerheads for months.

Within the last fortnight, after about 15 senators from the All Progressives Congress (APC) left the party the situation has got more tense with the speaker of the Kano State House of Assembly impeached. Yesterday, things took a turn for the worse in Kano with Professor Abubakar petitioning the state  police commissioner and the DSS over a threat to his life and plans to impeach him.

In his petition dated July 30 and copied to the assistant inspector general in charge of Zone I, and the state director of the DSS, Professor Abubakar asked for the deployment of security personnel around him. He added that the state government had released funds to mobilise youths from the 44 local government areas of the state to protest against his stay in office.

His petition read: “My attention has been drawn to orchestrated plots to frame me up on non-existing allegations to pave way for my impeachment from office by the Kano State House of Assembly. Secondly, the state government was also alleged to have made funds available to the 44 local government councils to raise groups and organise a protest in the state capital to call for either my resignation or impeachment from office.

“The concern here is that the protest, no matter how peaceful it was intended to be, could be hijacked by miscreants and turn it into violent one, thereby posing security threat not only to my person but to the state at large. Another worry is the fact that, I am residing in my private residence not the official residence that is located in the secure environment within the Government House, as the government is yet to provide me with the statutory official residence.

"I travel no less than 40km to and from my residence to the office on daily basis. In view of the foregoing realities, I am calling on the state police command to strengthen security around me and particularly at my residence in order to forestall any unpleasant security breach.”