Youth groups in Kaduna State on Wednesday took to the streets to protest the continued detention of former governor, Nasir El-Rufai, demanding his immediate release.
The protesters, drawn from different communities converged on strategic locations within Kaduna metropolis and parts of Southern Kaduna, chanting solidarity songs and carrying placards with inscriptions such as “Free El-Rufai Now” and “Justice for Our Leader.”
Other inscriptions read “Kaduna Demands Governance, not Revenge”. The protesters included women, youths and adults.
The demonstrations followed denial of bail to the former governor after his arrest by the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC).
Speaking during the protest, a leader of the Arewa Youth Movement, Ibrahim Modibo Sanusi, described El-Rufai’s continuous detention as unjust and politically motivated.
“We are here to register our displeasure over the continued detention of our leader,” Sanusi said.
“We demand his immediate and unconditional release. Justice must not only be done but must be seen to be done.”
He warned that failure by the authorities to heed their demands could lead to further mass action.
“If this situation persists, Kaduna youths will have no option but to escalate our actions within the ambit of the law,” he added.
He threatened that the group would mobilize a 1 million man march in Abuja if the government failed to release the former governor from detention.
He said Southern Kaduna youth also joined the protest in Kafanchan, headquarters of Jema’a Local Government Area, describing the protest as a peaceful demonstration in solidarity with the former governor.
Our correspondent reports that ,in Kaduna metropolis, protesters gathered at the Western Bye-pass, a major economic corridor, temporarily disrupting traffic as security personnel were deployed to monitor the exercise and ensure that it did not degenerate into violence.
