Ishaku imposes dusk to dawn curfew in Taraba State

The Taraba State government has imposed a dusk to dawn curfew in Jalingo, the state capital.

This is aimed at dousing the tension that is raising dust in the nooks and crannies of the state following the just-concluded governorship and House of Assembly elections.

In a press statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Hassan Mijinyawa, yesterday in Jalingo, the curfew, according to Governor Darius Dickson Ishaku, would run from 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. daily.

The curfew, however, exempted officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), key agents of political parties as well as observers involved in the ongoing collation of the election results.

The governor, therefore, enjoined the people of the state to continue to be law abiding and also urged the security agencies to ensure strict compliance.

Meanwhile, residents of Jalingo have embarked on self-imposed curfew, with most of the shops closed and streets deserted.

Forty-eight hours after the election, only results for four out of the 16 local councils in the state have so far been collated amid accusation and counter-accusation of irregularities at the polls by the various political parties as at the time of filing this report.

Also, most of the busy areas in Jalingo metropolis have been deserted the roads unprecedentedly quiet.

Heavily armed security operatives were seen to have been placed on alert as major streets within the state capital have been taken over by them.

In another development, the Centre for Law Enforcement and Education (CLEEN) Foundation has called for implementation of programmes for political culture, re-orientation of citizens, especially politicians, to internalise the values and norms of democratic politics, elections and governance in the country.

It, however, lamented that widespread insecurity in the country negatively affected the polls.

In a statement yesterday, CLEEN Election Security Support Centre (ESSC) alleged that deployment of the military for election duties also resulted from the desperation and conduct of politicians who sponsor electoral violence, hire thugs and promote inter-ethnic and inter-religion intolerance and hatred.

The foundation lamented that electoral violence and insecurity remain a serious challenge in the country.