…Protest continued detention of monarch
Protesting Sayawa women have demanded from the Bauchi State Government and the Nigeria Police the immediate and unconditional release their detained traditional ruler, Air Commodore Ishaku Komo (rtd) the Gung Zaar select.
The protesting women pointedly called on the Bauchi State Government to as a matter of urgency, direct the State Police Command to release the Gung Zaar select without further delay.
The Sayawa women threatened that if the government refused to release the traditional ruler and six others being detained, they will march from Tafawa Balewa and Bogoro Local Government Areas naked to embark of a major protest in Bauchi.
The women in their hundreds from the areas trooped to the streets of Tafawa Balewa on last week Thursday, blocked the major highways and disrupted commercial and social activities for several hours.
The protest was the fifth within a space of three weeks following the continued detention of their monarch, the Gung Zaar-Select, Air Commodore Ishaku Komo (retd.) by the Police in the State.
One of the women leaders, Rahatu Luka, said that the they gathered to express their displeasure over happening in the area, saying that it was a new thing in Bauchi state by denying someone who lost his dear mother the opportunity to bury her.
Rahatu said that until and unless the traditional ruler is released unconditionally, the women will continue to protest until their demands were met.
Also speaking, another of the woman leader, Rhoda Joshua said that facts on ground indicated that Ishaku Komo did nothing wrong to warrant his arrest and detention and therefore joined the demand for his unconditionally release from detention.
The protesters mostly dressed in black attires, held leaves and branches of trees while others held placards and banners with various inscriptions demanding the release of their monarch.
They also sang several songs and walked for several hours going round Tafawa Balewa town and forcing shop and business owners to close down.
Speaking with journalists during the protest, the National President of Zaar Youth Development Association, Ga-Allah Daniel, said; “this is the gathering of our mothers popularly called ‘Gudiya’ as you can see them here. As we went there, the story changed, they asked us where do we intend to carry out our protest and we said at the Government House, they asked us again, inside or outside and we told them that we prefer the outside, they said no, that they will not allow anyone or group of persons to carry protest to the Government House or anywhere in Bauchi metropolis. This is because we blocked the road and refused to open the road”.
Daniel narrated that the struggle for self-rule by the people of the area has been on for a long time which has resulted in several legal tussles and would not stop until the right thing is done by the government.
He therefore called on the State Government to put politics aside and do the needful by immediately releasing the Gung Zaar, Air Commodore Ishaku Komo (rtd) and 6 others arrested and detained with him unconditionally.
The Bauchi State Police command arrested Komo and six others over alleged involvement in the recent communal crisis that erupted in Sang Village in Bogoro LGA, during the coronation of a hamlet head.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Bauchi State Command, SP Ahmed Wakil, had in a statement, said that the detained monarch and six persons have a case to answer over the incident.
