The Emir of Kano, Mallam Muhammadu Sanusi II, has condemned the destruction and looting of public and private property during Thursday’s #EndBadGovernance protests in the state.
He urged residents not to buy stolen goods but to report such activities to the authorities.
Speaking at a press conference on Friday, Sanusi lamented that Kano was the worst affected during the protest, which was hijacked by hoodlums.
He mentioned the damages done to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) Digital Industrial Park, the Kano State Print Press, and other public facilities, which resulted in the loss of equipment worth billions of naira.
Sanusi expressed sorrow over the setback caused by the violence, adding that it harmed Kano’s economy and development. He appealed to the people to remain steadfast and resist being used as agents of destruction, expressing hope that Kano would overcome these challenges.
“Today is a sad day for the people of Kano as we reflect on the events of yesterday. The violence of yesterday was what scholars and leaders kept warning against, the possibility that miscreants and agents of destruction would hijack peaceful demonstrations and use that opportunity to cause mayhem which led to the loss of lives, the destruction of properties, and injuries to countless people.
“As we said during the stakeholders’ meeting, any violence in Kano only hurts Kano, it hurts innocent people. The young people who died are our children, the property that was burnt and stolen belongs to the people of Kano.
“We have set ourselves back. The printing press that was burnt will have to be rebuilt, the machines will have to be bought, and these are funds that could have gone into youth empowerment, poverty alleviation, education, healthcare, and nutrition, and addressing the very problems that we are protesting against.
“The Digital Centre of Excellence that was built by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) was aimed at educating our youth, giving them digital training, preparing them for examinations. I had personally spoken to the minister, and I am aware that the minister was due to come in next week to commission this centre along with the Governor. We have vandalised and destroyed the computers, we have wasted hundreds of millions of naira that was supposed to be invested in human capital,” Sanusi said.