The Police at the Kano State Command have confirmed the arrest of 333 suspected of electoral violence during Saturday’s re-run and by-elections in Ghari/Tsanyawa and Bagwai/Shanono State constituencies.
The Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Adamu Bakori, disclosed this while briefing journalists at the Command Headquarters in Kano.
He said the suspects were apprehended “for disrupting the electoral process through violence, intimidation, and other unlawful activities”.
According to the CP, “security operatives, in collaboration with sister agencies under the Inter-agency Consultative Committee on Election Security, foiled attempts by political thugs imported from within and outside the state to destabilize the election.
“Among items recovered were one pump action rifle, five locally made guns, 94 sticks, 16 swords, 18 cutlasses, 32 barandami weapons, 18 knives, a bow and arrows, catapults, 14 vehicles, ballot boxes, 163 thumb-printed ballot papers, and cash totaling over N4 million.
“All the suspects have already been arraigned before the Magistrate Courts in Nomansland and Gyadi-Gyadi, facing charges ranging from criminal conspiracy and possession of offensive weapons to destruction of election materials”.
CP Bakori commended the security personnel for their professionalism, stressing that their coordinated efforts prevented the elections from being derailed by the hoodlums.
He urged the residents of Kano state to remain peaceful and law-abiding, noting that safeguarding democracy is a collective responsibility.
