Niger State Governor, Mohammed Bago, has come below assault for ordering his safety aides to slap one of many Islamic clerics at a gathering.
Bago, in a video seen by Sunday PUNCH, ordered his aide to ‘slap’ the cleric.
“Slap him, very effectively. I stated slap him. Go and arrest him. Cope with him well-well”, the governor ordered.
He thereafter uttered a Hausa idiomatic expression which was interpreted as “I’ve energy.”
The cleric, who knelt down, was dragged away from the gathering by one of many safety operatives suspected to be an officer of the Division of State Providers.
Among the individuals on the gathering have been laughing and guffawing when the governor gave the order.
The offence dedicated by the cleric was not identified, however sources stated he wished to provide the closing prayer on the occasion which the governor opposed.
Reacting on social media on Saturday, many Nigerians described the governor’s motion as an abuse of energy.
A well-liked skit maker, Debo Adedayo, popularly often called Mr Macaroni, wrote, “A governor who has sworn to serve the individuals is ordering a safety agent to assault the identical citizen he sworn to serve. See safety agent too, flexing muscle groups on a person already on his knees. Proceed pushing the individuals till they get to the wall.
“See my individuals laughing and guffawing whereas their brother, a fellow human being like them was being assaulted by the identical individual that swore to serve and shield them.”
Additionally an X consumer recognized as @greatjoe01 tweeted, “I sincerely perceive when individuals argue in opposition to state policing for concern of this type of abuse of energy from the governors. However what precisely are the governors not doing with the federal police now?
“Here’s a DSS agent being ordered to hold out illegality. What are we afraid of?”
Chatting with Sunday PUNCH, a human rights lawyer, Mr Deji Ajare, condemned the governor’s motion, describing it as a violation of the cleric’s proper.
Nonetheless, when contacted, the governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Bologi Ibrahim, stated he was not conscious of the viral video.
He stated, “I’m not conscious of the video. Is it social media work? I’ll search for it, let me verify.”