Daily Independent Online.
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Monday,July 19, 2004.
Kano riot: Police probe alleged N10 million donation to victims
By Augustine
Madu-West
Special
Correspondent,
Kano
Detectives at the Criminal Investigation
Department of the Kano State Police Command are probing the authenticity and
ownership of a widely circulated letter alleging that the Kano State Government
has secretly donated N10 million to the Igbo community in the state to aide
Igbo victims of the May 11 riots.
This development has sparked off fresh
controversy within the Igbo community as evident in the physical confrontation that
ensued at the Kano High Court complex on Miller Road, between leaders of the
two factions that had since emerged to pursue Igbo course in Kano.
Last week, a letter purportedly written to
the state government by leader of the Igbo community thanking the state for
donating N10 million to the community to aide victims of the association did
not only become topical within the community but also controversial, resulting
in the feuding parties dragging themselves to the police.
The Igbo Community President, Chief
Boniface Ibekwe, who allegedly wrote the letter told the police that his
signature was forged by the factional leaders of Ndigbo, Chief Osita Nwankwo,
whom he accused of fomenting trouble in the community and discrediting his
leadership.
Ibekwe denied over receiving such amount
from the state government, stressing that neither him nor his secretary
authored any document. “Our signatures were forged to give the letter a
credibility,” he said.
