Mosque, market targeted for bombing in Kano, foreign election observers allege

A team of foreign observers under the aegis of the Pan African
Women Project International Observers have raised the alarm over
classified information of a planned bomb attack on selected targets
in Kano.

The observers said they received emails from a source they did
not make public, that a mosque and popular market were being
targeted for the attack ahead of Saturday’s Presidential and
National Assembly elections.

Publicity Secretary of the group, Ms. Mphoeue Keitseng, who
hails from Botswana, said this at a joint press conference with
their local partners in Kano, late on Tuesday.

The group also noted that from their interactions with
stakeholders across Nigeria, they observed that the late release of
funds to the Independent National Electoral Commission played a
substantial role in events which led to the postponement of the
elections.

Keitseng said, “Following our consultations with various
stakeholders with regard to the recent postponement of Nigeria’s
2019 elections, the following are our observations:

“We have observed that the Nigerian government did not release
funds to INEC on time, which resulted in supplies not being made
for the production of materials for the elections. For instance,
many observer groups up till now are yet to receive their
accreditation tags, jackets and caps.

“Secondly, the state (Kano) as you see today is generally quiet,
but there is classified information that reached us this
evening.

“Please, note a planned bomb explosion in some sensitive
locations in Kano by political thugs. These include: a general
mosque and a popular market.

“We use this medium to speak to the Nigerian government to beef
up security in all public areas such as mosques, churches and
markets.

“Lastly, from the press briefing held in Abuja, which we
attended, many sensitive materials as at this moment, have arrived
INEC offices. However, we look forward to a successful 2019
elections.”

In response to a question as to how they came to the conclusion
that funds were not released to INEC on time, she said, “The
suppliers told us that they were only given deposits for the
materials last month — January.”

Asked if the group has shared the security information with
relevant Nigerian security agencies, the Head of the Mission, a
Nigerian, Dr. Uben Udensi, said, “We just came into Kano, we intend
to do so.

The group also urged the Nigerian government and all other
stakeholders to take steps to ensure that Saturday’s polls are
free, fair and credible.