A young man, Usman Sabo, has reportedly been detained by the police in Bauchi State for criticizing the Chairman of Shira Local Government Area, Babangida Ishaq, popularly known as Maliya.
According to a family source, Sabo was arrested on Friday by officers from the GRA Police Division over Facebook posts in which he criticized the chairman. He was later transferred to Bauchi.
Another source said that Usman’s arrest was politically motivated, noting that Usman is a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) while the chairman belongs to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
In one of the posts, he wrote, “Power is transient. Before you there were about five local government chairmen. After you many will come. It is wrong to oppress people just because we are their leaders.
“In Shira local government, some workers are yet to receive their July salary. They are being owed allegedly because they don’t go to work. We are in the rainy season. Do you want people to abandon their farms?
“Secondly, it is wrong to give notice to workers occupying government houses. One of the past five local chairmen attempted to eject them. Some of those workers have been occupying the houses since 1999. They know the houses don’t belong to them. Those in active service have every right to occupy the houses.”
In another post he added, “Shira local government team is at risk of facing walkover in their scheduled match against Kirfi Local Government, the reason being the local government has refused to fund their travel. Why should the local government say it doesn’t have money? God has afflicted us with a leader who does not do what is right.”
Usman’s arrest drew criticism from a lawyer, Mukhtar Muhammad, who condemned the act, describing it oppressive.
He said that the police were meant to protect the people, not to serve as attack dogs for corrupt leaders.
He wrote, “Enough is Enough! Yesterday, I received a disturbing report about Usman Sabo, who was unlawfully arrested by the Yana Division of the Nigerian Police simply for criticizing the Chairman of Shira Local Government.
“When I called the DPO to ask about this abuse of power, he openly admitted that he hadn’t even read the Facebook posts that supposedly led to the arrest. So, on what basis was Usman picked up?
“This is nothing but oppression, plain and simple. As long as shameless politicians keep using the police as their personal weapon against anyone who dares to speak the truth, things will never change in this country.
“The police are meant to protect the people, not to serve as attack dogs for corrupt leaders. We see you. We will hold you accountable. We will deal with every act of injustice.”
Responding, the Chairman of Shira Local Government, Babangida Ishaq, said that Usman Sabo was arrested because he had consistently fabricated stories aimed at tarnishing his image and that of his administration.
He said Usman posted two misleading and entirely concocted stories to paint his administration black.
He said, “A team of footballers approached me to support them to participate in an inter-local government tournament. I personally donated N500,000 and instructed a director to provide them with a bus to take them there; but they were unable to attend for certain reasons. When the director demanded them to return the funds, they brought back only N240,000.
“I told him to keep the remaining money until the team is ready for another tournament. Despite this, Usman rushed to Facebook and falsely claimed I refused to support the team.”
On the issue of staff housing, the chairman acknowledged that many directors lacked suitable accommodation in the area.
“Our directors who are not indigenes of Shira [LG] face accommodation challenges. Head of Environmental Operations travels daily from Alkaleri; our Director Finance comes from Ganjuwa; our Director Agric comes from Itas; our Director Budget and Planning comes from Dass; Director PHC is from Giade; Education Secretary is from Dambam. I instructed some staff to vacate certain government quarters with the understanding the government would pay two years’ rent for them. They were given a two-month notice.”
Speaking on salary issues, Ishaq emphasized that the local government only withheld the salaries of staff who failed to report to work.
“After a thorough verification, we uncovered a good number of ghost workers. Salaries were withheld from those who don’t report to work, including the son of the former House of Representatives member and that of a serving member of the state House of Assembly who is from our party, the PDP.”
