Ndume decries arrest of woman for lamenting killings by bandits

The former majority of the senate, Mohammed Ali Ndume, has expressed disgust over the arrest and prosecution of a woman, Hamdiya Sidi, in Sokoto by the police for lamenting the incessant killings by bandits.

Ndume, who represents Borno South Senatorial District in the National Assembly, expressed support for a similar position taken by a northern coalition called Voices for Inclusion and Equity (VIEW) which had condemned Sidi’s arrest.

Senator Ndume noted that Sidi’s lamentations on the killings were a way of drawing attention to the killings by bandits.

He said there shouldn’t be any attempt to silence her through arrest.

In a statement last Friday, the spokesman of the Sokoto police command, Ahmad Rufai, said Sidi was arrested and being prosecuted for inciting unrest in the state.

The woman had, in a video, lamented the insecurity in the state and demanded an end to the incessant killings by bandits.

She revealed how gunmen took over villages without any restraint, adding that displaced women seeking refuge in the state capital were being sexually exploited due to abject poverty and squalor.

Condemning the woman’s arrest earlier, the northern coalition, in a statement jointly signed by Asma’u Joda, Saudatu Mahdi, Maryam Uwais, Aisha Oyebode, Amina Salihu, Mairo Mandara, Kadaria Ahmed, Fatima Akilu, Rabi Jimeta and Aisha Waziri Ibrahim, urged governor Aliyu to publicly kick against the treatment accorded “this courageous young lady, in recognition of his responsibility and leadership role to protect his citizens.”