Hundreds of lives have been lost to series of attacks by insurgents in Kano State since January 20, 2012, when members of the Jama'atul Ahlus Sunnati lidda'awati wal Jihad or Boko Haram sect launched its first coordinated attacks in the state. The event of January 20 marked the beginning of the group's offensive in the commercial city. For months, Boko Haram has claimed responsibility over shooting of members of security agencies and civilians and has equally threatened more attacks.
However, towards the end of 2012, political leaders in the state have been targeted, eliciting insinuations that some of the killings might be politically motivated.
The recent victim of this new dimension of violence was the Interim Management Officer (IMO) in charge of Dawakin Tofa Local Government, Musa Kambai Sumaila, who escaped death when gunmen on motorcycle opened fire on his vehicle in Sallari area of Kano metropolis. He survived the attack but his driver, Alaramma Salisu, was killed.
Weeks before the daylight assault on Sumaila, gunmen had shot dead two state assembly members representing Garko and Gaya constituencies.
The lawmakers, Ibrahim Abba Garko and Danladi Isa Kademi, were killed in separate attacks in different parts of Kano city.
Though Boko Haram had threatened to attack public office holders, the attacks on the lawmakers have cast doubts in the minds of observers, as to whether the sect was actually behind them, especially since they did not claim responsibility.
State government officials are said to have been thrown into fear. A government source informed Daily Trust that shortly after the killing of Kademi, Governor Rabi'u Musa Kwankwaso, convened a meeting of senior government officials and party bigwigs, and cautioned them to be mindful of their security in view of the new trend of killings.
Among reasons to buttress the assertion that certain political elements – other than the Boko Haram group – may be behind the recent attacks, is the 'massive popularity of the victims' among voters in their localities, some analysts said.
Garko who was a member representing Garko Local Government in the state legislature was a political force to reckon with in his area. He won two successive elections into the state assembly.
Observers say the deceased had fallen out with his All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) on whose platform he was elected into the state assembly in 2007. Following the frosty relationship, he was allegedly denied candidature for the party in Garko in 2011, a development that saw him being accommodated into the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which allowed him to contest on its platform. And he won the election.
Although he proved to be a political asset to his new party because he won against the candidate of his former party and those of other rival parties, analysts said by then he had already made enough enemies – both within his new and the old parties. In the PDP, certain people allegedly began to regard him as a usurper.
Similarly, Kademi was regarded as one politician with deep grassroots connection in Gaya local government. He was chairman of Gaya LG three times and chairman of Kano State ALGON under former Governor Ibrahim Shekarau. But even while contesting the Gaya state assembly seat under ANPP, Kademi was opposed to his party's governorship candidate and pitched his tent with the former Kano deputy governor's candidature under ACN.
Commentators said his stance did not go down well with the powers that be in his party, who tried to scuttle his chances of winning the legislative seat, right from the stage of party primary, which he subsequently came to win, including the election, against all odds.
Since then, he was regarded as a mole in the party that partly belongs in the ANPP, but supporting a faction that is keenly tilted towards ACN and not in support of Salihu Sagir Takai's candidature. Analysts had concluded that whenever election shots will be called, the party with Kademi in its fold will emerge victorious. He was therefore seen a political threat that oppositions cannot afford to play with.
Apart from their popularity, pundits point to the fact that the three hailed from the same Kano-South Senatorial zone, which they claim to be a reason why a conspiracy is suspect. Garko, Kademi and Sumaila are from a zone notable for political vibrancy that is second only to Kano-Central.
If there is no conspiracy plot against the area, people believe that the do-or-die politics that it is known for could be at play. Due to reasons pertaining representation, which defines the local dynamics, it is possible for political leaders to be targeted by competing forces, or more still, from outside the zone by elements that are apprehensive of the role the zone can play in determining the political course of the state in 2015.
However, another school of thought is of the belief that even though no group has come out to celebrate the killings of the lawmakers as Boko Haram would after scoring what they believe is a success in their campaign there is still no need to accuse political adversaries for the crime.
Boko Haram has become a boo word for describing every atrocity committed in the state, by criminals inclusive, provided it bears traits similar to that of the group.
Similar blanket labelling was made recently when some armed men attacked a Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) patrol vehicle, killing three officers and maiming one, near Madobi roundabout in the outskirt of Kano.
Initial public reaction to the incident blamed Boko Haram, until a few days later when the state police command arrested an expatriate 'hired killer' who confessed to carrying out the attack, in addition to many others.
The suspect, a Sudanese, told investigators that he had been behind spates of killings of civilians and security personnel in various parts of the state.
They further contend that if for anything, the insecurity turf in the state has since assumed a scary dimension that makes it possible for people to be attacked and killed for reasons far from insurgency.
Daily Trust also gathered from security agencies that apart from insurgents' attacks, many killings in Kano are perpetrated by criminal gangs – armed robbers as well as hired killers – who are sponsored by business or political rivals.
A security source, however, noted that the killing game is sliding into a dangerous lane, with the alleged involvement of politicians, saying that is capable of plunging the state into deadly political rivalry that may be characterized by attacks and counterattacks.
Meanwhile, an official of the state Joint Task Force (JTF) in Kano who confided in Daily Trust said that security forces had nabbed the suspected killer of both Garko and Kademi and that he had confessed to the offence, even though he denied having links with insurgents. The source added that investigators were probing further to find out if he was sponsored and to get to the sponsors.
"Very soon the world will know who did it and those who are behind him, as well as the whole motive behind the killings," the source hinted.
But until this is exposed, many will continue to speculate that certain political considerations had played vital part in the killing of the two lawmakers. Perhaps, the actual motives may never be known.
- Daily Trust
This whole killing is just making me sick.Some evil doers in this country don't reason at all