Re: Kankara: Small town turns big target for robbers

In the said feature story it was reported that the inhabitants of Kankara Local Government Area of Katsina State have had to put up with regular robberies. It is true that residents of the area now live in fear due to activities of men of the underworld and as such this rejoinder could not have […]

In the said feature story it was reported that the inhabitants of Kankara Local Government Area of Katsina State have had to put up with regular robberies.

It is true that residents of the area now live in fear due to activities of men of the underworld and as such this rejoinder could not have come but for the allegations made against the person of the Sarkin Pawwan Katsina, District Head of Kankara, Alhaji Muhammad Lawal.

The anonymous person interviewed by your reporter may not have known who Alhaji Muhammad Lawal is before making the allegation. For the records, the Sarkin Pawwan Katsina, Alhaji Muhammad Lawal is the oldest and longest serving District Head in Katsina State as he is now over ninety years old and has been the District Head of Kankara for the last fourty years.

His present status (old age and deteriorating health condition) made Katsina Emirate Council to grant him a waiver of not attending to official functions outside his domain, including the annual traditional Sallah Durbar for several years.

Whoever expects an old man of over ninety years who has lost his sight, with health challenges associated with old age to put an end to the menace of modern day armed robbers is not only being unfair to the old man but also mischievous.

The anonymous person interviewed by Weekly Trust blamed the Sarkin Pawwan Katsina for the series of armed robberies, claiming that whenever they took suspected armed robbers to the police and the courts, the District Head will ensure their release. Is that not a serious indictment of the Law enforcement officers and the Judiciary? What has a blind old man of over ninety years got to do with a case that is before a court of competent Jurisdiction, talk less of ensuring the release of the suspects?

In fact, this allegation is extremely unfair, and an assault on the old man who it should be remembered is only the District Head not the Chief Security Officer of the Local Government Area.

He also alleged that one of the children of the District Head Known as Alhaji Idi is the middle man between the robbers and the police/courts.

Let it be known that Alh. Muhammadu Lawal has no child named Alhaji Idi and even if he has, how can the sins of the son of over 18 years old be visited on his old man of over ninety?

We therefore want to state that both allegations against the District Head and the purported son (Alh. Idi) are fictitious and malicious as they are intended to drag the name of the Sarkin Pawwan Katsina into disrepute.

For the avoidance of doubt, Alh. Muhammadu Lawal the District Head of Kankara will continue to perform the role of father to his people and therefore wants all concern not to be distracted by the allegations contained in the article published in the Weekly Trust Newspaper.

Alhaji Umar Lawal Babajokankara, District Head Office Scribe.