Reports coming in from Bauchi State, northern Nigeria, inform that unknown attackers on Friday set fire to the campaign office of the gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressive Congress, APC, Mohammed Abubakar.
Though those behind the tragic incident are yet to be identified, Abubakar however told newsmen that he believed supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the state were behind the attack.
Also, the Premium Times reports that some residents in the area where the incident happened said the arson may be a retaliation of an earlier attack on President Goodluck Jonathan’s campaign team in the town.
It would be recalled that some hoodlums had on Thursday hurled shoes, plastic bottles and other objects at the podium where President Jonathan and his team sat during their visit to Bauchi for campaigns.
Goodluck Jonathan at Bauchi rally
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Senator Bala Mohammed, was pelted by some ‘supporters’ at the venue of the Presidential Campaign rally in Bauchi.
It was also reported that the youth later vandalised PDP billboards and posters in the capital, and set fire to a police van.
However, today’s attack was said to have taken place at about 2a.m..
It was gathered that the assailants vandalized the Bauchi South Senatorial District campaign office of Abubakar, located on Kobi Street, after reportedly arriving in three Hilux pickups.
One witness said “We woke up and saw the office on fire and all the relevant things in the office had already been burnt and there was nothing we could do at that time to save the situation. We did not envisage that any reasonable person could do such a thing.”
While commenting on the situation, Abubakar described the incident as “unfortunate, barbaric and undemocratic”.
He said APC is a peaceful party and that they are determined to win the governorship elections.
“We in APC are not violent people and we are guided by the simple principles of issue-based campaign and not violence. Our peaceful conduct is already giving us an edge over our opponents and we can never resort to violence at any point of our campaign,” Abubakar said.
Bauchi State Police Public Relations Officer, Haruna Mohammed, incident, told newsmen that he was still compiling his report on the matter.
“I am compiling the report and will send details to you as soon as am done,” the PPRO said.
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