Security operatives assault PWD protesters in Bauchi

Security personnel attached to the Bauchi Government House assaulted a group of protesting Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) in Bauchi State.

The PWDs had joined the #EndofBadGovernance protests in the state as they marched to the Government House on Friday.

However, they were prevented from gaining access to the Governor’s Office where they had planned to meet with the Deputy Governor, Auwal Jatau, in order to lay their grievances.

A spokesperson for the PWDs, who refused to disclose his identity, lamented in an interview with journalists that most of them are graduates from higher institutions but remain jobless, with no hope for a better future, thereby needing government intervention.

He further claimed that they were mistreated by security agencies, who nearly brutalised them despite being harmless and only trying to attract the government’s attention.

But reacting to the development in a statement issued shortly after the incident, the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the Governor, Mukhtar Gidado, said the State Government has launched an investigation into the allegations.

The statement partly reads “The Bauchi State Government is deeply concerned by the viral video of an infraction involving a person with disability and security personnel at a cordoned area at the entrance of Bauchi Government House yesterday, 1st August, 2024 during the #EndBadGovernance protest.”

“We wish to categorically state that the Bauchi State Government under the inspirational leadership of Governor Bala Mohammed does not condone any form of violence or misconduct by law enforcement officers attached to the Government House or any government official.”

“The welfare and rights of all citizens, especially vulnerable groups remain Governor Bala’s foremost concern and priority, as he directs a thorough investigation be carried out to ascertain the facts”

“The State Government assures the general public that the officers involved if found to have acted improperly, will be held accountable and face the full extent of the law.”