Ban on Mass Wedding: Kwankwasiyya Movement takes Petition to PSC, demand probe of Kano CP.
The controversy surrounding the ban on mass weddings in Kano state took a new dimension on Wednesday when the Kwankwasiyya group took a petition against the Kano State Police Commissioner, Rabiu Yusuf to the Police Service Commission and demanded a probe of the CP.
The controversy surrounding the ban on mass weddings in Kano state took a new dimension on Wednesday when the Kwankwasiyya group took a petition against the Kano State Police Commissioner, Rabiu Yusuf to the Police Service Commission and demanded a probe of the CP.
According to the Kwankwasiyya group, “The action of Mr. Rabiu Yusuf in banning the mass wedding in Kano is a total breach of our constitution and religious rights to freedom of assembly and association alongside all other fundamental human rights as enshrined in the constitution.
Speaking when the group submitted a 3-page petition to the Chairman of the Police Service Commission, Sir Mike Okiro in Abuja, Hon. Aliyu Sani Madaki, a member of the House of Representatives from Kano State and former SSG of the state, Alhaji Yusuf Suleiman Bichi said a panel of inquiry should be put in place to investigate what actually led to the ban of the mass wedding by the Police Commissioner.
Also, “The illegal invasion and sealing of our office complex by the Kano State CP should be investigated”
Describing the Kwankwasiyya group as comprising law abiding citizens, Madaki said, “we have decided to present to you, this matter and call on the commission to as a matter of urgency, take necessary measures to address this issue because we believe the Police Commissioner has been politically motivated by the Kano State government to ban our August 20th and 21st mass wedding programmes, and furthermore went on to ban it indefinitely was well as illegal sealing of our office”.
Part of the petition read, “The mass wedding for widows, spinsters and divorcees was initiated by the administration of former Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso and that its impacts, benefit include promotion of family values, curtailing social vices like moral decay, prostitution, cases of abandoned children, unwanted pregnancy and promiscuity”.
“When the present government choose not to continue with the initiative, we were left with no option but to collectively put our resources as individuals and groups under the Kwankwasiyya movement to continue with the programme, after having followed all laid down procedures in accordance with our religion and customs, including medical investigations and officially informing the police and other security agencies, who acknowledged and granted our requests”.
“We were therefore shocked to learn from very reliable sources that the Kano State Commissioner of Police, Rabiu Yusuf was invited to Kano government house and directed to stop the mass wedding programme under the pretext that the State government was also organizing another event with the minister of Sports and Youth Development, who was not in the country, as its guest of honour”.
“We have strong reasons to believe this programme was concocted to give the impression that holding the two programmes same day might bring about a security risk and therefore giving the police grounds to ban both programmes.
“We then officially conveyed to the Police, a notification that we have voluntarily decided to shift our own programme to next day.
“However, the Commissioner of Police still went ahead to ban the programme even after several other proposals to hold it on a different day.
Furthermore, having realized that the Commissioner of Police has aligned himself with the Gangujiya group of the state governor, we dropped the idea of a mass wedding and advised the couples to individually contract their marriages with families and friends.
“To our dismay again, on Monday evening, without any justification, the police came, armed to the teeth and illegally sealed our office on No. 2 Lodge road where furniture, food and other gift items for the would be couples are stored and ready for distribution”.
“Mr. Chairman, we are sure you are very much aware that such partisan disposition as the one taken by CP Rabiu Yusuf has in the recent past generated serious political tensions in various states and has put a dent on the image of the Nigerian Police”.
Responding, after receiving the petition, Sir Okiro promised that the commission as the body responsible for discipline of senior officers will adhere to the fundamental human rights issue of fair hearing by listening to the side of the Police Commissioner.
He said thereafter, it will hand over the mater for investigation to the Inspector General of Police adding that the rule of law will be followed in the matter.
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