Police authorities in Kano have placed their men on the alert after rioters on Friday killed two policemen and one other person in Sumaila over an alleged blasphemy by a student.
Violent protest erupted in Sumaila town, about 50 kilometres east of Kano, on Friday, leading to the killing of a police inspector, another policeman and a civilian.
The town’s police station and vehicles parked in front of it were burnt in the rampage.
The Divisional Police Officer (DPO) and principal of the Government Secondary School, Sumailawhere the violence startedwere beaten up by the rioters. The two are now receiving treatment at the General Hospital, Wudil.
Chairman of the Sumaila Local Government Area Alhaji Zubairu Hamza told the visiting state Deputy Governor Abdullahi Gwarzo that the protest was caused by alleged circulation of a �slanderous leaflet� against the Prophet of Islam by some non-Muslim students of the secondary school.
The police in Kano yesterday said they have put their men on the alert in the event of any spill over of the crisis to Kano, a city known for spontaneous religious clashes.
Baba Mohammed, the police spokesman, said though the command is not expecting the crisis to spark off any violence in Kano city or elsewhere in the state, men and officers are ready to contain any such eventuality.
Mohammed told Sunday Trust that the authorities were sure that this is the end of the violence though they would not be taken unawares.
He confirmed that 25 persons�including students of the school where the violence started�were arrested and would soon be charged to court. Mohammed also said the police may make more arrests.
Investigations by Sunday Trust traced the beginning of the crisis to January 24, when an SS II student of the school in Sumaila was caught by his colleagues after he allegedly wrote and distributed a blasphemous article on the person of Prophet Muhammad.
The apprehended student was handed over to the school authorities by some senior students who intervened to prevent bloodshed. The student, an indigenous Christian, was suspended by the school authorities after investigations show that he wrote and distributed the said offensive materials.
Thirteen days after, pressure mainly from the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Kano on the state Ministry of Education forced the school authorities to rescind the suspension on the student.
The student returned to the school on Wednesday last week after the ministry ordered the principal to readmit him.
During the assembly of students on Thursday, uproar erupted when the suspended student was seen by colleagues. Attempts by the principal and some of his staff to control the situation failed.
Witnesses told Sunday Trust that soon after this, some students descended on the school principal accusing him of conspiracy to desecrate the personality of the Prophet of Islam. Others chased the allegedly blasphemous student.
The police allegedly provided shelter for the fleeing student at the divisional office close to the school. When the rioting students demanded his handover, the police fired in the air to disperse them.
The gunshot attracted more rioters as youths from Sumaila town joined the fray.
The rioters set the police station ablaze and in a resulting clash killed two police personnel. Several other policemen including the DPO sustained various degrees of injuries.
Sunday Trust learnt that when a letter was found in the school compound allegedly containing blasphemous material two weeks ago, tension became high between the majority Muslim students and their Christian colleagues who are mostly indigenous converts.
The incident was then reported to the school authorities and an investigation was carried out to fish out those responsible for the offensive article.
A day later, while the Muslim students were attending the Friday prayers, the said student was spotted allegedly spreading more of the offensive material.
“He was caught while writing on the blackboard of one of the classes the said offensive article he wrote about the Holy Prophet,” a witness said.
This led to his suspension from the school. But after the suspension, his parents protested to CAN, which insisted that the student should be recalled.
Two days to the violent clashes, the principal was said to have been ordered to re-admit the student.
At the assembly ground on, the student was seen by angry colleagues who attempted to attack him. He fled to the police divisional office leading violent clashes with the police after the rioters demanded his hand over.
Speaking during an assessment of the destruction at the police station, Alhaji Zubairu said the crisis could have been prevented. He said peace has since returned to the area as the crisis did not spill to parts of the town but stopped at the police station only.
The deputy governor, who also visited the scene, called on people to stop taking the law into their own hands.
State commissioner of police Alhaji Mohammed Yesufu said the police would find and bring to justice those behind the violence. He blamed lack of religious tolerance for the crisis.
Kano state is infamous for religious upheavals. Late last year an indigenous Christian student wrote a similar offensive article in Tudun Wada local government, leading to violence with many casualties.
In recent violence in Kano, police personnel were among the casualties. Last year, many men and officers died in attacks on police stations and in clashes.
Figures released by the Police Equipment Fund last week said up to 100 police men are killed by armed robbers annually across the country.