The Sokoto State Police Command and the Department of State Services (DSS) has distanced themselves from a viral audio attributed to the former Sokoto governor, Attahiru Dalhatu Bafarawa, and called on politicians in the state not to drag them into their gimmicks.
ASHENEWS gathered that the duo of the state Commissioner of Police, CP Muhammed Usaini Gumel, and the state DSS Director, Yahaya Hassan had initiated peace move to involve elder statesmen, including former governors Bafarawa, Aliyu Wamakko and Governor Aminu Tambuwal on how to prevail on citizens to have violent-free elections in the state.
This online platform further gathered that move was independent of the earlier one in which the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) engaged leaders of political parties to sign peace accord, towards violent-free polls.
A source told ASHENEWS that as the governorship and House of Assembly elections approach, the Police Commissioner and Director of SSS, undertook to contact the elder statesmen individually with a view to coming up with a model that would curtail crisis during the forthcoming governorship elections.
According to the source, the two security chiefs had approached former governor Wamakko, who also advised them to see former governor Yahaya Abdulkarim. They also went to see former governor Bafarawa.
To their amasement, the Police and DSS boss came across an audio which was attributed to former governor Bafarawa, and purported to imply that the Commissioner of Police, and the DSS Director, were working on a peace accord to be signed by the elder statesmen.
However, a joint statement issued by the Commissioner of Police and the DSS Director, and made available to ASHENEWS on Sunday, said no second peace accord was being planned to be signed by the elder statesmen.
According to the statement, the initiative aimed to consult with the elder statesmen, to be led by the sitting governor, Aminu Tambuwal in order to chart a way forward for peaceful governorship elections.
“For the avoidance of doubt, members of the public should note that the initiative, which is aimed at consultation with the elder statesmen, and also expected to be led by His Excellency, the Executive Governor, Rt. Hon Aminu Waziru Tambuwal CFR, (Matawallen Sokoto), is a call for these highly respected statesmen to come together, put aside their political differences and come up with a statement for the state broadcast stations, so that all political parties supporters can listen to and make them embrace peace for the good of the greater number of Sokoto residents and not for signing of any form of peace accord document as claimed in the audio,” the statement reads.
The two security chiefs “advised the two elder statesmen to settle their grievances without distortion of the mission of the ongoing consultation, which is done in good faith.”
The statement recalled that the ICCES, under the leadership of the Commissioner of Police, had launched an “Operation Kule Chas”, which is aimed against political thuggery, after which “the two security chiefs resolved to contact the elder statesmen on the need to cooperate and prevail on their supporters and all other residents to understand that the Operation is to keep the state safe, work with the stakeholders and gather momentum for the better ways of providing security for the forthcoming gubernatorial and supplementary elections.”
They chided the release of the audio which implies that one of the elder statesman, is not ready to sign the peace accord.
“It’s most unfortunate that this viral audio is now on circulation purportedly released by the media handlers of the former governor, His Excellency, Dr. Attahiru Dalhatu Bafarawa,” the statement further reads.
Gumel and Hassan appealed to the politicians to remember that “We are not politicians but members of the state peace and security council.”
“In view of the foregoing, the Command wishes to make it categorically clear that the Commissioner of Police and State Director of Security are not politicians but members of the state peace and security council.
“This also serves as a call to all political players to always, when settling thier grievances not to involve the CP and SDS into their political issues in a similar way they have been misquoted in the viral audio,” the statement reads.
