How hoodlums battered Borno commissioner, lawmaker

The day was far spent, with
temperature rising to about 40 degree
Celsius in the Sahel Savannah
vegetation of southern Borno.



 It was
in late March, and there eminent
personalities in the state –
Commissioner for Poverty Alleviation,
Alhaji Usman Dirkwa; the House of
Assembly member representing Hawul
State Constituency, Hon Ayuba
Stephen Wakawa, and the Chairman,
Hawul Local Government, Dr Andrew
Malgwi were out in the area to woo
the electorate to support the All
Progressives Congress (APC)
candidates ahead of the March 28
Presidential and National Assembly
polls.
Like previous political engagements,
the three politicians decided to have a
break; so they stopped for lunch at
Marama, the country home of the
council chairman in the area. But
hardly had they settled down to
savour the delicious meal when some
hoodlums suspected to be political
thugs struck.
“The commissioner, the council
chairman and myself hail from Hawul
Local Government Area. We went to
the area few days to the presidential
election to canvass for support from
our people for all our candidates. By
noon, we decided we should stop at
Marama to break our activities and
have lunch. But some hoodlums just
came and attacked us as we were
taking our meals,” one of the victims,
Hon Ayuba Wakawa told Daily Sun .
Wakawa said two other local
politicians from the area were also
having lunch with them when the
hoodlums came, adding that the duo
of the Commissioner for Poverty
Alleviation and the council chairman
sustained severe injuries.
“They wanted to kill us but God saved
us. It was bad and I told them there
was no need shedding blood over
elections,” he told the reporter.
He alleged that some politicians in the
area who were unhappy about what
he called the impending, glaring
victory of All Progressive Congress
(APC) in the March 28 and April 11
elections masterminded the attack.
“They probably sensed failure in the
elections,” he claimed, even as he
said he had forgiven the attackers. He
said he viewed the incident as one of
the challenges of politics and change,
which Nigerians were yearning for in
the build up to the presidential polls.
While the House of Assembly member
was lucky not to have sustained
injuries, both the commissioner and
the local government chairman were
not that fortunate as both were
severely wounded. “Blood was
actually gushing out of the chairman’s
forehead,” said an eyewitness who
arrived at the scene of the attack
minutes later. The chairman, Dr
Malgwi said the attackers claimed
some political thugs destroyed the
campaign posters of their preferred
party and candidates and decided to
avenge by attacking the political
leaders from the area who were not
members of their political party.
“It appears the hoodlums were
frustrated because they said their
action was influenced by anger as
some people tore the posters of their
candidates,” he stated. He expressed
gratitude to God for ensuring that they
survived the attack and were alive to
recount their ugly experiences.
“Had the hoodlums killed us then, we
wouldn’t have been telling this story
now,” Malgwi said. Commissioner for
Poverty Alleviation, Usman Dirkwa,
who suffered damage on his hands
and fingers, advised youths to be law-
abiding.
He also appealed to the people to
always report issues to the
appropriate security agencies rather
than take the law into their hands.
“Anger and violence will not solve any
problem, no matter how small it is.
We already have enough problem in
Borno and there is no need
compounding our problem with attack
or violence against one another,” he
stated.
He told Daily Sun that he had forgiven
the attackers and would welcome
them as fathers, should they be willing
to change as better and peaceful
citizen. He urged people of Borno to
close ranks to work for the return of
peace to the state and embrace the
rebuilding plan of the state
government. He noted that the victory
of General Muhammadu Buhari as
president and Governor Kashim
Shettima’s re-election, were for all
Borno people and Nigerians.
Elders and leaders of Marama, where
the incident took place, some 190
kilometres to Maiduguri, the state
capital, condemned the attack at a
press conference held in Maiduguri.
They also pledged their supports to
the affected leaders from the area and
called on youths to eschew violence.