Following the palpable tension that has engulfed the state since Thursday’s gruesome murder of Miss. Deborah Samuel, a 200-level student of Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto State Governor, Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, Saturday, imposed a 24-hour curfew on the capital.
Irate youths had ground Sokoto to a halt on Saturday, protesting the condemnation of the brutal murder of Miss Samuel by the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar.
The Sultan had, on Friday, condemned the killing of Miss. Deborah Samuel on alleged blasphemy, and urged the relevant security agencies to bring the perpetrators of the heinous crime to justice.
But Saturday morning, some irate youths stormed the Sultan’s palace, insisting that his comments on Deborah’s murder were “anti-Islam”. The protesters also demanded that those arrested over the murder be set free with immediate effect.
There was heightened tension in Sokoto metropolis as the rampaging youth blocked major highways within the city.
Sequel to the spiraling tension in the city, Governor Tambuwal made a statewide radio and television broadcast, and imposed a 24-hour curfew on the capital.
He said by the power conferred on him by sections 176 (2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Sections 1 and 4 of the public Order Act and also Section 15 of Sokoto State Peace Preservation Law, and as the chief security of the state, he imposed a 24-hour curfew.
Appealing to the people of Sokoto State to continue to BE LAW ABIDING, Tambuwal declared:
“Everyone should, please, in the interest of peace go back home and observe this measures, with a view to re-establishing peace, law and order in the state,” he said, adding it would not be in anyone’s interest to have a breakdown of law and order.
“I, therefore, appeal for restraint; and, for people to observe and respect the rule of law”, he said.
At the time of filing this story, military personnel and other security agents had taken over the streets in the city.
