Uromi:Northerners Are Safe In Edo State, Says Kano Deputy Governor
By Abdullahi Yusuf
The Deputy Governor of Kano State,Comrade Aminu Abdulsalam Gwarzo,says Northerners are very safe in Edo State pursuing their legitimate means of livelihood.
Gwarzo is the Chairman of the Kano State Government’s high-powered investigation committee sent to Edo State to unravel the circumstances that led to the recent killing of 16 hunters at Uromi.
He made the declaration on Friday while interacting with Journalists shortly after the committee returned to Kano from Edo State.
“From the mammoth crowd of Northerners and people of Edo State that received us at Uromi and Benin, and the expressions we saw on their faces, it is clear that Northerners there are very much comfortable, very much at home, feeling very safe,” he said.
The Chairman said the committee’s visit to Edo State was a follow-up to the visit of Governor Monday Okpehbolo to Kano, Bunkure and Toronkawa where he met and condoled with the State Government and families of the slain hunters over the killings.
“It took us almost two hours to reach Uromi from Benin.There was a huge crowd waiting for us, both indigenous and our people living in Uromi and earning their living in Uromi. So, what we have seen is really encouraging,”he said.
He said Governor Okpehbolo personally led the high-powered committee to Uromi where they commiserated with the traditional and religious leaders over the killing.
“There is a leadership there, political leadership has rejected and condemned this obnoxious act, this very tragic incident. The traditional leadership was so outspoken and vocal and condemned in strong terms the perpetrators of this very dastardly act. The religious leadership also condemned the heinous incident.
“So, we are convinced that the entirety of the leadership in Edo State and Uromii kingdom are totally against what happened. They rejected it in its totality, and they condemned it in strong terms.
“And they have taken steps to calm the nerves of the people of Edo, the extraction living there, and to assure and reassure the nation that Uromi and Edo State will continue to welcome people from all parts of the country, especially people from the north and Kano state in particular, ” he said.
The Deputy Governor said what the government and people of Kano State want is justice in the whole matter, including payment of compensation to the families of the victims.
“All we need is justice, and justice must be seen to be done.They have told us that they have arrested a number of people, about 14 people. And the other encouraging aspect of it is that the governor, as the Chief Executive of the state, has taken very solid and bold steps to ensure that nothing like that happens again.
“And to assure and reassure everybody, all non-indigenes, particularly people from Arewa and Kano in particular, that Edo is safe for them to live in.
“The governor has disbanded the vigilance group and the key figures that perpetrated the dastardly act have been arrested, and more are going to be arrested, because some of them are on the run.The police and the DSS are still looking for them.
“He has assured us that there is going to be compensation for those who lost their lives, and those who lost their belongings, because you know they were coming back from Port Harcourt.They had their items of various categories in the vehicle, and the whole of it was burnt,” he added.