Muslims in the country yesterday marked this year’s Eid-el-Fitr amidst tight security. Fierce-looking soldiers were stationed at strategic areas while mobile vans conveying armed mobile policemen patrolled major cities of the country, particularly in the north and the south-west, to ensure a hitch-free Sallah celebration.
Muslims in flashpoints filed out as early as 9am on Tuesday for the Eid prayers only to discover the heavy presence of both plain-cloth and uniformed security personnel patrolling the streets.
At Bakaro, Games Village, Ran Gate (near Kasuwa Shanu), Kofar Iddi and other Eid prayer grounds in Bauchi metropolis, as well as in Farin Gada in Jos and in the Biu area of Borno State, the Federal Capital Territory, Kaduna, Ogun, Oyo and other states, there were many security people.
Mallam Tunji Ahmed, who was at Area One prayer ground, Abuja, recalled: “There is security men everywhere – police, soldiers.
They were all over the place – on the roads, inside nearby houses, on the streets, everywhere. I have never seen this kind of thing in my life before.”
Ahmed said he was not afraid in spite of the recent bombings and other onslaught by hoodlums since tight security came in its wake.
“We celebrated the Sallah in peace.
There was no problem. We were not afraid. The people who are afraid are people who have something to hide, people who are not sure of themselves.”
Meanwhile, the commissioner of police, Plateau State command, Dipo Ayeni, has admonished leaders at every level to always promote justice, saying it was the panacea to most of the ills bedeviling the nation.
He said: “Nowadays in Nigeria, the poor man is feeling increasingly insecure because he doesn’t know where to run to.
If he goes to the police or the courts, he will likely not get justice. As leaders, we owe God and the people if we turn our faces when the poor or the helpless are denied justice.”
While reiterating government’s commitment to security of lives and property of the people, Ayeni noted,
“The ugly incidents that have happened will not repeat itself in this state because government has taken adequate security measures to prevent its reccurrence.”
Meanwhile, an air of apprehension yesterday gripped residents of the city of Jos following inciting text messages which circulated in the state capital as well as rumours of alleged silent killings in some parts of the city, a situation which led to the low-key celebration of the Eid-el-fitr in the state.
Meanwhile, the general officer commanding (GOC), 3rd Armoured Brigade of the Nigerian Army, was said to have toured military checkpoints mounted around the city to ensure that they were prepared for any eventuality.
This is even as family members who were yet to see their loved ones besieged the Jankwano Hospital mortuary to examine corpses.
In a related development, the Plateau State correspondent of the People’s Daily Newspaper, Mallam Bayo Alabira, was yesterday beaten up by members of the special military task force on Jos crisis while discharging his primary duties around Zololo Junction in Jos North local government council.
He was admitted at Sauki clinic, opposite the NUJ secretariat, along Hill Station Junction, Jos, where the doctor said he had lost a lot of blood.
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