Calling Sokoto Governor to Order

Gradually, Sokoto State is  turning into a state where the people live in fear of harassment and intimidation due to Governor Ahmad Aliyu’s high-handedness since he assumed power in 2023.

Governor Aliyu is accused of joining autocrats in the harassment of those who hold dissent views.

Recently, a woman, Hamdiyya Sidi, was arrested and put in prison for allegedly lamenting the rising killings and general insecurity in the state. 

In a viral video, Ms. Sidi revealed how bandits pillaged their villages without any restraints, and how displaced women seeking refuge in the state capital are now being sexually exploited due to abject poverty and squalor.

A media aide to the former Governor Aminu Tambuwal, Shafi’u Tureta, is still languishing in a correctional centre in the state after he was arrested, arraigned in a magistrate court and remanded for allegedly criticising the governor’s wife, Fatima Ahmad Aliyu.

Tureta, who was arrested by operatives of the state police command in August, was accused of posting a video of the governor’s wife allegedly holding a lavish birthday party with some guests who were throwing dollars. 

The video stirred up the internet as Nigerians lamented the alleged waste of resources amid the country’s ongoing economic downturn.

Tureta equally shared a video of the governor purporting that he was  struggling to construct a sentence in English and another which alleged that the governor failed his secondary school examination with an F9 in English.

A global human rights organisation, Amnesty International, has already raised the alarm over the arrests and detention of those with opposing views.

In a statement posted on its X handle, the group decried the governor’s action, saying it was undemocratic to arrest and secretly prosecute Sidi for exposing the state’s humanitarian crisis. It added that the intimidation against the woman is unlawful and threatens Nigerians’ right to freedom of expression.

Governor Aliyu should instead channel his strength and energy on how to resolve the insecurity, poverty and other challenges facing the state.

Last week, it was reported that 25 persons had been killed in an outbreak of Gastroenteritis in 18 local government areas of the state.