Written by Aminu Mohammed & Abdulfatai Abdulsalami, Sokoto
Monday, 23 July 2007

the police said in Sokoto yesterday. The Shi’ite leader and his men were detained in the aftermath of last Wednesday’s killing of prominent Sunni Muslim preacher Sheikh Umaru Hamza Dan Maishi’a, who was shot inside the Shehu Danfodiyo Mosque in Sokoto and who later died in hospital. The Sheikh was a well-known critic of the city’s Shi’ite community.

Sokoto State Police Commissioner Alhaji Shehu Othman, who spoke to reporters in his office, said all those arrested in connection with the killing of the cleric would be charged to court. He said the suspects would be variously arraigned for attempted murder, murder and arson, among other charges.

The police boss said that the arrest of the Shiite leader and many of his followers was however not to say that they were responsible for the

cleric’s killing. What the police did, he said, was to invite them for questioning, but they resisted this and it led to a bloody fracas between law enforcement agents and the Shiites at their stronghold known as Marakas in Sokoto metropolis.

Speaking on security measures taken so far to avert further escalation of the looting and public disturbances that followed the Sheikh’s killing, Alhaji Othman said joint military-police patrol teams deployed in major areas all around Sokoto greatly helped to bring the situation under control. More patrol teams would be deployed all around the town until normalcy is restored, he said.

It would be recalled that an unknown gunman shot and killed Sheikh Umar Dan Maishi’a last Wednesday, while a mob lynched the suspected killer. So far, police has confirmed the death of three people in the crisis. Apart from the cleric and his alleged attacker, an 18-year-old boy, Malam Abdullahi Buhari was shot dead last Friday, allegedly by a Shiite sect member. The Shiite member who allegedly killed Buhari is among those to appear in court today to face murder charges, the police boss said.

Meanwhile, Sokoto State Governor Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko has warned perpetrators of religious crises to pack their bags and leave the state because "freedom has limits, and if they think they can forment trouble, we are prepared to deal with them squarely".

In a radio and television broadcast to the people yesterday, he said what happened last Wednesday should be seen as the first and the last episode of its kind. "For as long as we are in government it will never happen again," he said. The governor said some disgruntled elements in the society want to test the government’s might "and we are fully ready to bring every available arsenal in our armoury to crush them".

In the broadcast which was titled "Freedom is not a license for lawlessness", Wamakko said that as democrats, they recognize and respect the freedom of people to belong and practice their chosen religion, but that they are also duty bound to ensure that freedom is not taken as a license to deny other members of the society their own freedom or as a license to kill, maim and destroy others.

He added, "Through historical and contemporary times, Sokoto State has been popular and known as a society of men and women of faith, learning and scholarship". They have always been identified and respected as a peaceful and tranquil community of people who are tolerant, accommodating and law-abiding, he said.

The governor said security agencies have been mobilized and ordered to look out for, and deal with anybody, persons or groups found to be fomenting trouble or disturbing the peace in accordance with the law in Sokoto metropolis and in all parts of the state.

Governor Wamakko also thanked Sultan Muhammad Sa’ad, the deputy governor, AIG Zone 10 and other security agencies for their role in the proper handling of the dangerous situation. He said Islamic leaders, scholars and Imams who did so much to cool tempers and restrained what would have been violent reaction from majority of their followers also needed to be commended.

He promised that adequate compensation would be paid to deserving people, while those who deserve it would justly be dealt with after due judicial process.