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		VANGUARD   Shoot-on-sight order in Kano as death toll hits 30   By Tina Anthony, Taye Obateru, Charles Ozoemena & agency report Thursday, May 13, 2004     *Non-natives flee war zones� in thousands *Gov Joshua Dariye probes Yelwa killings *Obasanjo on assessment visit to Plateau   KANO � THE police in Kano issued, yesterday, a shoot-on-sight order to its men after hoodlums defied a huge security operation to launch fresh attacks in reprisal for the Yelwa, Plateau State killings. Kano State Police Commissioner, Mr. Abdul Ganiyu Dawodu, told reporters that the death toll in two days of fighting had hit 30 with 40 others hospitalised. Christian families fleeing from the hot spots to safety, however, said more people might have died. Governor Joshua Dairye of Plateau State, where killing of Muslims in Yelwa triggered the Kano mayhem, said a judicial commission of inquiry would be set up to probe the incident. President Olusegun Obasanjo is expected in the state today to personally assess the situation, while human rights group, Amnesty International, asked the Federal Government to bring the perpetrators to justice. �We had no option but to give the order to our men to shoot anybody who tries to KANO � THE police in Kano issued, yesterday, a shoot-on-sight order to its men after hoodlums defied a huge security operation to launch fresh attacks in reprisal for the Yelwa, Plateau State killings. Kano State Police Commissioner, Mr. Abdul Ganiyu Dawodu, told reporters that the death toll in two days of fighting had hit 30 with 40 others hospitalised. Christian families fleeing from the hot spots to safety, however, said more people might have died. Governor Joshua Dairye of Plateau State, where killing of Muslims in Yelwa triggered the Kano mayhem, said a judicial commission of inquiry would be set up to probe the incident. President Olusegun Obasanjo is expected in the state today to personally assess the situation, while human rights group, Amnesty International, asked the Federal Government to bring the perpetrators to justice. �We had no option but to give the order to our men to shoot anybody who tries to disturb the peace, especially when the life of an officer is in danger, or the security of society is threatened,� Dawodu said, admitting that lack of vehicles had prevented his men from controlling the riot. He did not say how many of the casualties were caused by police fire. At Kano General Hospital, doctors were treating a steady stream of people with machete cuts and gunshot wounds, including four men whose friends said had been shot by police, two of them in the stomach, two in the legs. Meanwhile, between 5,000 and 10,000 terrified refugees had gathered on a patch of land next to police headquarters, seeking sanctuary from the mob. Fighting first broke out Tuesday, when Muslim youths went on the rampage following a street protest called to denounce the May 2 attack by an ethnic militia on the mainly Muslim market town of Yelwa, in Plateau State, which left more than 200 dead. Large number of police and troops were deployed late Tuesday to enforce a dusk till dawn curfew, and by the next morning they had secured control of the city centre and were protecting Kano�s main Christian ghetto. But once the overnight clampdown was lifted, fighting spread to the city�s suburbs, witnesses fleeing the scene said. �Many people have been killed in Sharada, but we have not been able to bring out their bodies, because we had to look (after) our own lives,� said 37-year-old foundry worker, Joshua Adamu, adding that his home had been burnt down. Nearby, middle-aged battery seller, Rosemary Ime, broke down in tears as neighbours arrived with news that her husband, four children and four more relatives were burnt alive when her home was attacked overnight. �My husband and his brother have been badly hurt, they have so many knife wounds in their back. They have been taken to the hospital. We don�t know whether they are dead or alive,� wept 40-year-old Helen James. �All our housing estate was totally burnt, we�ve nothing left.� Smoke could be seen rising from the outlying districts of Rijiyar Zakim, Sharada and Kofar Kabuga, but soldiers prevented journalists from approaching the scene. Refugees were seen fleeing the area in buses and police jeeps. At Sabon Gari, traders gathered nervously near their shops, but did not open for business while they waited to see if the police operation would be enough to protect them from looters. On May 2, a gang from the Tarok ethnic group attacked the mainly Muslim market town of Yelwa, in� Shendam local government area of� Plateau State. Tuesday�s protest in Kano was called in solidarity with the Yelwa Muslims. Despite appeals for calm, rioting broke out shortly afterwards. President �Obasanjo held a crisis meeting with influential Muslim scholars in Abuja, calling on them to reign in the anger of their supporters. Information Minister, Chukwuemeka Chikelu, said: �The Federal Government is very disturbed about what has happened in Kano and Plateau States and the president is intervening strongly to make sure it doesn�t escalate.� Hoodlums in fresh attacks �As the hoodlums regrouped yesterday, they invaded the Federal College of Education, Kano where they went for the students in their hostels. They first attacked the male hostels, and from their sought to move to the females. But the male students put up a strong resistance before the intervention of policemen. It was gathered that a lecturer in the college was burnt alive with his two daughters. Kano gov regrets,assures non-natives Reacting to the development after meeting with community leaders, Gov. Ibrahim Shekarau of Kano State expressed regrets and assured all non-natives of the continued protection of their lives and property. He said: �What happened is unfortunate. We condemn it in totality. Everything that happens comes from God, good or bad. It is unfortunate that in situations like this, some people tend to take advantage to loot.� President General of Igbo in Kano, Chief Boniface Ibekwe, lamented that non-natives had always been at the receiving end during breakout of violence in Kano. He said the palace of Eze Ndigbo in the city was burnt down early yesterday with the aged Eze himself narrowly escaping death. Chief Ibekwe said if government was incapable of stopping the killings, it could as well give the non-natives six months to leave the state. Commission of inquiry coming And in a broadcast in Jos on Tuesday night, Governor Joshua Dariye of Plateau State vowed to bring the perpetrators of the Yelwa killings to book. He also said a commission of inquiry would be set up to investigate the crisis, adding that his administration was determined to deal with those out to frustrate him. In a separate interview in Abuja, the governor kicked against campaign to impose a state of emergency in Plateau State, and� attributed the move to people who were bent on destabilising his administration. �They are people who think that by so doing they would get my job. That is not how to get it. They should subject themselves to an election. There are more crises in Benue, in Taraba, in Nasarawa and even in Delta State. Even in nearby Bauchi. How is it that they have not declared a state of emergency? As people who love democracy, there are democratic ways of handling this irresponsible attitude. I believe if people say we should declare state of emergency then we should declare state of emergency in Nigeria. What they want is to collapse democracy. When you start declaring in one state, it would not end there,� he said. The governor observed that Plateau State is owned by natives� who should be appreciated for their generous disposition in allowing settlers live in the state and not to be used against them. Amnesty International calls for justice In a statement on the situation in Yelwa, Amnesty International asked the Federal Government to �ensure adequate protection from further attacks, and to carry out thorough, independent and impartial investigations into the killings, including establishing the exact number of deaths. �The Federal Government should bring the perpetrators to justice in trials which must meet international standards of fairness and without recourse to the death penalty. �Amnesty International is urging the mobile police and military personnel, in their attempts to restore law and order in Yelwa, to respect fundamental human rights, including by strictly adhering to the United Nations Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials ant he Untied Nations Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officers. Principles 4 of the latter instrument states that law enforcement officials shall, as far as possible, apply non-violent means before resorting to the use of force and firearms.�
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