Presidency angry with Kano, Yobe, Kaduna govs

The security agencies, including the police, have been given matching orders that between Friday and today, the situation is brought under control, Sunday Telegraph can report. Some governors have also been reaching out to influential people within their states to help quell the situation. It would be recalled that the #EndBadgovernanceprotest, which started nationwide on Thursday, last week, turned violent in Kaduna, Yobe, Borno and Kano, where properties worth billions of Naira were destroyed and looted. Impeccable Sources within the security circles, who confided in the Sunday Telegraph, also said that the presidency was angry at some governors for the way and manner they handled the situation. “The situation is dangerous in Kaduna, Yobe, Borno and Kano,” said the Source. The Newspaper gathered that there were also “some local political upheavals, as security agencies called it in Benue and Plateau states, which have nothing to do with the protests. There were also some skirmishes in Osun and isolated cases in Ogun.

The Source continued: “The presidency is saying that in those states and other places that are being talked about, people protested in the real sense, without any attempt to destroy public property. They were taunting political slogans without attempting to attack anyone. “The presidency has put all the security agencies on red alert and the police high command to forestall any breakdown of law and order. “They also talked to some governors, who initially thought they wanted to reap some political capital from the protest by supporting it.

However, they saw that it was not so, especially the governor of Kano State. “There was a backlash and he had to ensure that the situation was brought under control by declaring a curfew. “If not for the restraint of some of the soldiers, it would have been worse. People were confronting soldiers and wanted to beat them with sticks in some locations,” the Source added.

“The Federal Government has promised to deal with those fanning the ember of disunity in the country. It is not just about protest now. There is a discernable pattern of attempts to cause confusion in the polity and stoke the fire of crisis in the country. “In very clear terms, the presidency has reached out to some governors to ensure that they do not allow their states to become springing board for anarchy.

“From the reports they are getting, it is obvious that there is more to it than protesting over hardship in the land. “They hoped that what they heard was that some people were talking about change that would lead to regime change from their utterances.” Another Source said: “The presidency is angry that they allowed matters to degenerate. They believe that some of them have not done well. “It is also a reflection of some positions in the presidency and some of the reports that some persons want to reap political capital out of what is going on. They made references to Kano, Yobe, Borno, Katsina, and Niger”

“Meanwhile, what the governors did in the South, especially in the South West, was they made contact, apart from Lagos, where it was understandable, in most of the South West states, there were no issues. Indeed, in Ekiti and Ondo States, virtually, there were no protests as it were.

“In Ondo, the governor was very pro-active because he knew that if things got out of hands, it would affect his election in November. He was very proactive in meetings with different groups, including the youth. Rather than even protesting, it was endorsed by the youths. “The presidency has reached out to the states, to those they think were behind the situation and believe promised Mr President that pro-active measures would be taken and things would not get out of hand. “There were threats indirectly that any states that became ungovernable, the big stick would be wielded. You know what that means.”