Dutse —JIGAWA State Government has disbursed about N10 million to over 150 Polling Units called Development Areas in Maiatagari and Bosuwa LGCs of Jigawa State. The state Governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Saminu Turaki also directed that children in all the polling units must be immunized against polio. He further advised the Development Areas to judiciously utilize the funds released to them to improve the lots of the people, warning that, any unit found to have failed in complying with the directive on the disbursement pattern, would henceforth not benefit from the monthly allocation of Polling Units Funds from the state government.
The governor, who made the declaration on Tuesday when WHO officials paid him a courtesy call at the Government House Dutse, also described the polio immunization as a very vital event in the quest of ensuring good healthcare delivery system in the state. Speaking during the disbursement, the Vice Chairman of Maigatari LGC, Alhaji Isa Saidu Jajeri assured that, the funds will be disbursed accordingly and judiciously. In another development Dutse, the sleepy capital of Jigawa State was thrown into pandemonium Tuesday night by people suspected to be members of Maitatsine Islamic sect.
Eye-witness account told Vanguard that the sect in their thousands had earlier in the day sneaked into the capital and commenced open air preaching at the city centre late in the evening. The Maitatsine sect armed with bows and arrows, and matchetes unleashed mayhem on residents who were still engrossed with Sallah Festivities, leaving one dead, eleven (11) critically injured. The burble burst as at 9.15 p m when attempt was made by other islamic sects to halt preaching by the Maitatsine group.The message of the Maitatsine group was considered as blasphemy. The ensuing pandemonium sent jitters into the spines of residents as commercial activities were grounded for three hours. Thousands were forced to seek refuge at the police headquarters.
Mr Sunday Digha, the police Image maker in a chat with newsmen confirmed the incident, adding that those injured were taken to Dutse General hospital for treatment. Digha disclosed that a member of the sect arrested during the mayhem is now helping the police with their investigation and that normalcy had since returned to Dutse. Investigations however showed that most residents slept with one eye open as sporadic gun shots rented the air till early morning Wednesday.
