Bello Alhassan, Kaduna
DAILY COURIER – Governor Abba Yusuf of Kano State, on Wednesday, disclosed that miscreants had looted from the State High Court, documents on corruption charges against the former governor of the state, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, his family and aides during the recent nationwide anti-hunger protests.
Ganduje, who is also the acting National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has been facing multiple charges before the State High Court.
The Governor’s Spokesperson, Sanusi Bature Dawakin Tofa, who disclosed this in a statement, said Governor Yusuf spoke when he paid an on-the-spot assessment visit to the Kano State High Court which was vandalised by thugs during the protests.
“It is very unfortunate that enemies of Kano State hired undesirable elements to vandalise one of the historic public buildings with a mission of averting corruption charges against the Acting National Chairman of the APC and former governor of the state, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, his family and aides,” he said.
The Governor said the miscreants destroyed virtually all units of the High Court, including the office of the State Chief Judge with losses “accruing to more than N1 billion through stealing of office equipment, destroying offices, burning cars and other relevant materials crucial to the dispensation of justice”.
He urged youths in the state to desist from being used by detractors to engage in violence. Instead, he said the youths should concentrate on skills acquisition for a better future, assuring that the government would not relent in securing the lives and property of the people of the state.
Yusuf said the Judiciary, as the last hope of the common man, must be protected at all costs, and ordered the rehabilitation of the building with immediate effect and deployment of adequate security for effective justice delivery.
He commiserated with the State Chief Judge, Dije Abdu Aboki, and the entire Judiciary family over the ugly incident and urged them “to brace up to cover what was lost in the court’s proceedings for the benefit of the common man”.
He commended the people of the state for their support and cooperation with the present administration in the state and prayed that the gesture would be sustained for the peace, stability, prosperity and economic development of the state.