One violence that shocked Gombe

But the jinx of harmony and tranquility in the state was broken on the 17 April 2011, when a post-presidential election riot broke out in the state leading to loss of several innocent lives and property worth several millions of Naira. Sunday, the 18th of April 2011 began like any ordinary day as people were […]

But the jinx of harmony and tranquility in the state was broken on the 17 April 2011, when a post-presidential election riot broke out in the state leading to loss of several innocent lives and property worth several millions of Naira.

Sunday, the 18th of April 2011 began like any ordinary day as people were seen going about their normal businesses, until after 2:30 pm of same day when youth in their thousands started trooping into the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) headquarters along Bauchi road under the guise of guarding their votes to ensue that their votes counted.

The youth were forced to assemble by the security agents at the opposite end of the road leading to the commission’s headquarters, about 100 meters away, but the influx of the youth in the age  bracket of 10 to 14 years persisted.

Initially the gathering of the youth, carrying different types of weapons, such as sticks with a sharp metal end, clubs, rods and stones began swelling  to such a monumental crowd that gave the combined team of military and police a tough time to control.

At a stage, the security operatives had to enter into an agreement with the vicious looking teenagers on the vehicular movement in or out of the commission to be jointly monitored and inspected by the security agents and the youth together.

The agreement paid off to a point as the youth were calm and patiently waiting for the time the result of the presidential election would be announced, particularly when rumours were filtering that their favorite candidate was leading.

Meanwhile, collation of results that being speeding computed by the Presidential election returning officer, Professor Yaganami Karta was in progress at the conference room of the commission.

Electoral officers were busy working alongside the various political parties’ representatives that took part in the election towards arriving at the final result of each of the parties, while foreign and domestic observers, security agencies and journalists were all in attendance during the exercise.

The agreement suddenly collapsed and the situation became chaotic after a pick up van owned by INEC refused to adhere to the stop-and-search exercise at the gate, by beating the security check point and speding off to the commission’s premises.

On noticing that the youth became suspicious of a foul play and before one could know what was happening, they had over powered the security agents at the gate and forced their way into the commission’s premises, demanding for the driver’s head after the pick up and several other vehicles there were completely smashed.

Collation of results had to be abruptly abandoned as all the officials, staff of the commission and those in attendance during the exercise were terrified, with some scampering to safety and others wandering around, as pandemonium set in.

One could hear the rampaging youth in their thousands downstairs yelling atop of their voices that the commission’s headquarters with all the people inside be set ablaze.

INEC building could have been the first structure to be set on fire on that fateful Sunday, but for the courage of the Congress for Progressive Change representatives participating in the collation by coming down stairs to calm the irate youth to announcing to them that General Muhammadu Buhari of CPC was taking the lead, which doused the tension instantly.

Shortly after, they were successfully evacuated from the INEC headquarters, bonfires were mounted and the atmosphere suddenly became cloudy and darker from the smoke at different locations of the state capital.

The central roundabout, Jekadafari and Sabon Layi,  the two major roads that dissected the state capital were  overran by the angry youth attacking, maiming and molesting innocent citizens unlucky to fall their victims.

The restive youth marched toward the Government House and the personal residence of Governor Danjuma Goje with the intention of burning the two places.

However, the quick intervention of the police by barricading the ways leading to these targeted places, changed the course of action in which the youth started hand-picking the houses of some prominent members of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as their preys.

The youth vented their anger by first attacking the house of the former Minister of Education, Hajia A’ishatu Jibir Dukku where several vehicles were destroyed, the house of the Chairman of Gombe Local Government Area, Ibrahim Dasuki Jalo Waziri would have suffered same fate but the timely arrival of the police at the area saved the situation.

Unknown to the police, after the minister’s house the next target was the house of the state chairman of PDP, Mr Jack Gumpy. His personal residence at Abuja Quarters was soaked with petrol and set ablaze, leading to the death of 10 people trapped in the inferno.

The colossal loss of lives in the PDP chairman’s house could be described as one of the worst tragedies that befell the state since its creation, with the exception of the terror unleashed on the people of the state by the notorious Kalere group which also led to loss of lives.

It was reported that not quite long after they (Gumpy’s family) came back from the village where they went to cast their votes, the tragedy struck and among them children with some of the victims on transit, who only made a stop over to continue their journey the following morning.

The mayhem that started as political violence took a different dimension later in the day, as churches and Christian houses became targets and that led to the escalation of the upheaval to many parts of the state capital.

It took policemen two days to bring the situation under control.

As part of the measures to curtail escalation of the violence, a curfew was imposed in the state from 6 pm to 6 am and that helped the police significantly to be on top of the situation in reasonable time.

During his visit to the hospital to sympathize with the post-election violence victims at the Federal Medical Center, the Gombe State Governor-elect, Alhaji Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo, donated N2 million to the victims to their medical bills.

Several youth were seen on admission at the hospital receiving treatment for various degrees of injuries resulting from gunshots or machete cuts.