Kaduna State Governor, Senator Uba Sani, on Tuesday, attributed the hardship protest which went violent in the state on Monday, to external influences.
He made this known while assessing the security situation on Tuesday.
Governor Sani expressed concern for the innocent residents affected, including those who could not earn a living or go to the market due to the curfew, attributing the protests to external influences, citing the involvement of children aged 9-14 waving flags of another country.
According to him, it’s a deliberate attempt to create anarchy, taking advantage of the psychology of the children and the cultural closeness to neighbouring countries like Niger Republic.
Sani dismissed the notion that the protests were about bad governance or hunger, suggesting that initial genuine protesters were hijacked by sponsored elements exploiting uneducated and underage children.
He commended the security forces for their professional handling of the situation, allowing underage children to climb on police vehicles without resorting to force.
“An investigation into the matter is ongoing. The sad aspect of what has happened is that a whole of innocent people are now at home. These are people who are supposed to come out and earn their own living.
“When you see, particularly when you children within the ages of nine, 10 and 14 now raising the flag of another country, you will agree with me that it’s well designed, sponsored by some elements who are calling for anarchy in their own country.
“They took advantage by using the psychology of those children knowing fully well that here in Northern Nigeria, our people are close to our neighbouring countries like Niger Republic, making them believe that what happened in Niger Republic can happen in Nigeria; what happened in Burkina-Faso can happen in Nigeria and what happened in Mali can happen in Nigeria.
“So, as far as I’m concerned the protest has nothing to do with bad governance or hunger or anything. Those that came out a few days ago, were sponsored by some people who took advantage of the fact that most of children are not even educated and of course, they are underage.
“I want to commend the security for managing the situation because if you noticed what happened, some of the children are even climbing the Amour Personnel Carrier van of the police which showed that the police are very understanding.
“They(police) acted professionally for them to even allow the children because they realized that those children were underaged here in Kaduna. We are investigating the situation.”
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