Kano bombing: Hausa community flees Anambra

Mark, Ekweremadu condemn attack

The Hausa community in Awka and Onitsha are leaving Anambra State for fear of reprisal attack following Monday’s suicide bombing in Kano.
Apprehension among the Hausa community within the state has heightened in the last few hours and the state police command and soldiers are now trying to stop them from leaving
Over 20 persons lost their lives during the bombing, while about five vehicles were destroyed.
Speaking to The Nation on Tuesday, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Emeka Chukwuemeka, said they were pleading with members of the Hausa community not to leave the state, assuring them that nothing would happen.
Many of them were seen on Tuesday moving their property to the 302 artillery regiment in Onitsha and the police station in Awka.
However, Chukwuemeka said that anybody who insisted on going would not be prevented, adding that adequate security had been put in place to secure their safety
One of the Hausa leaders who failed to disclose his name to The Nation said they were packing because the Igbo could retaliate what happened in Kano on Monday.
Meanwhile, the President of the Senate, David Mark and his deputy Ike Ekweremadu, on Tuesday condemned in “very strong terms” the Monday’s attack in the city.
Mark in a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Kola Ologbondiyan, in Abuja, frowned at the renewed violence at a time Nigerians were heaving sigh of relief that the killings largely perpetrated by the Boko Haram sect seemed to be subsiding.
He said: “This act is condemnable. It is inhuman and barbaric.
“This is certainly not part of our culture. This is alien. It is forbidden. We cannot live like this.
“Something serious has gone wrong in the land. We must do well by returning to the basics.
“No matter the level of anger in a man’s mind, taking the life of another cannot be a solution.
“All of us across the divide must join hands to end this carnage in our land.”
He noted that there exist a number of channels for aggrieved people or groups to express their feelings without resort to killings and destruction of property.
He further reminded Nigerians to “cultivate the time tested attributes of being our brothers’ keeper at all times.”
He sympathized with victims of the bomb blast and prayed the Almighty God to heal the land.