520 killed in Kaduna, Niger -Police •1,442 houses burnt, damaged •22,141 persons displaced

THE police, on Wednesday, came up with the official casualty figures of the bloody violence that trailed the April 16 presidential election in Kaduna and Niger states,

saying that 520 people, including civilians and police personnel, were killed while 81 persons were injured in the two states during the violence.

Speaking at a one-day parley on “2011 General Election Review: Experience Sharing, Lessons Learnt and the Way Forward – Police Perspective,” organised by the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre, PLAC, in Abuja, the Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) in charge of Zone 7, comprising the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, Niger and Kaduna states, AIG Felix Ogbaudu, said that 512 civilians and six policemen were killed in Kaduna state alone, with 71 civilians and six policemen injured.

According to Mr Ogbaudu, who represented the Inspector General of Police, Hafiz Ringim, on the occasion, “22,141 persons were internally displaced in Kaduna while 1,435 houses and 987 shops were either damaged or burnt down completely in the state during the crisis.”

In addition, Mr Ogbaudu disclosed that 157 churches and 46 mosques were razed down while 437 assorted vehicles and 219 motorcycles were either burnt or damaged in Kaduna with both the state government and the police losing 16 and 45 properties respectively to the crisis.

In Niger State, Mr Ogbaudu said that though there was a bomb blast in the state, only two people lost their lives, with four others injured and seven vehicles, seven houses, eight mosques and seven churches either burnt down or damaged.

The police chief, who revealed that the police had to contend with a number of challenges during the period ranging from inadequate logistics support and manpower, among others, lamented that in Kaduna State in particular, “the houses of perceived political opponents, party offices, campaign billboards, police stations and places of worship were razed down, with thousands displaced from their homes.”

He, however, confirmed that a number of arrests were made during the period and were currently undergoing intensive interrogation after which those found culpable would be charged to court while a manhunt had been launched against those already at large.

He attributed election violence in the country to various factors, including bad culture, high-level of illiteracy, gullible, unemployed, angry, hungry and ignorant youths, who were always willing tools in the hands of desperate political mischief makers and lack of spirit of sportsmanship on the part of politicians.

The AIG, however, stressed the need for the state and national assemblies to legislate against unlawful possession of prohibited firearms with stiff penalty to stem the tide of armed violence, while the Federal Government should also direct the National Orientation Agency (NOA) to draw up a re-orientation programme that should be incorporated into the curricula at all levels of education to address the bad cultures plaguing Nigeria as a nation.

He assured that the police high command would ensure that the force “is more proactive, sharpens the intelligence gathering network, deployment of more hands during future elections, motorised patrols, while training and retraining of police personnel would be given proper attention.”

He also pleaded with INEC to address all the lapses noticed during the last elections, such as creation of additional polling centres, incidents of omission of names in voter register, late arrival of electoral materials, as well as other logistics and operational shortcomings ahead of future elections.

This is coming just as the National Security Adviser (NSA), General Owoye Azazi disclosed that the violence that erupted in some parts of the country during the April polls were envisaged, which made the security agencies under the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee to prepare fully ahead of the polls to curtail it.

General Azazi, who spoke through a director in his office, Ambassador Lai Olaseinde, said that 80 to 90 per cent of the violence that occurred was expected in the already identified black spots based on intelligence reports, but were effectively managed, assuring that concerted efforts would be made to improve on security arrangements put in place during the last elections in the future ones.

In his contribution, the INEC chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega, who hinted that the much-awaited restructuring of the commission would be done almost immediately for better efficiency, said that the commission would go back to the drawing board to plan early for the 2015 elections.