Gov. Ngilari Disowns Police Over Adamawa Curfew Announcement

The Adamawa State Government on Saturday denied imposing a dusk to dawn curfew in the state as announced by the Police Commissioner, Gabriel Adaji. The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Adaji announced the clampdown on Friday, saying that the curfew would take effect from April 12 to April 14. According to the police, the curfew is to prevent wild celebrations and harassment of citizens after the announcement of election results. In a swift reaction, however, Governor Bala Ngilari said the state government had no knowledge of the curfew. The governor said in a statement signed by his Director of Public Affairs, Phineas Elisha, that the administration was not responsible for the imposition of the curfew. The statement said: “Governor Bala James Ngilari, the Chief Security of Adamawa State has distanced himself from the curfew imposed on the state by the state commissioner of police. “The Governor wishes to inform the general public that he has not imposed any curfew on the State as reported by some local and foreign media. “The government is liaising with the State Police Command to ascertain the source of the reports.” The All Progressive Congress, the Peoples Democratic Party and the Peoples Democratic Movement have separately condemned the announcement by the police. While the state Secretary of the PDP, Tahir Shehu, said the party had no hand in the announcement, the APC and PDM accused the police of working to rig the polls for the PDP. The APC and PDM, in a petition, described the move by the police as suspicious and unwarranted. “We had a peaceful Presidential and National Assembly election two weeks ago and we see no reason why there should be any curfew in the state,” Alhaji Abdulrahaman Abba, the Campaign Director of the APC gubernatorial candidate, said.