Governor Inuwa Yahaya, Senator Danjuma Goje and the Blame Game in Gombe

By: James Bwala

Last Friday former governor of Gombe state and Senator representing Gombe Central, Danjuma Goje and Governor Inuwa Yahaya have robbed each other’s shoulders with the blood of the innocent when their supporters clashed in Gombe to please their paid masters.

While Governor Inuwa Yahaya was said to rely on his executive powers to gather support of the party youth leader, His ADC and a driver to lead the battle against Goje, the Senator was said to have awake his dreaded thugs popularly called “Yankalare” for the clash that left five people dead.

Barely hours after the clash, Senator Danjuma Goje’s daughter, Hussaina, on Saturday resigned as the state’s Commissioner for Environment and Forest Resources, in protest after suspected political thugs assaulted her father.

In a press statement she made available to journalists in Gombe last week Saturday, Ms Goje said her resignation was a personal decision.

“Today, Saturday 6th of November, I wish to inform the general public and media organisations that I, Dr Husaina Goje, has tendered my formal resignation, from my position as Commissioner for Environment and Forest Resources to His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Gombe State, Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, effective today.

“I also wish to inform that my resignation was made based on my personal reasons. With this I wish to show my appreciation for the opportunity given to me by His Excellency the executive governor to serve as a member of his executive council in this administration.”

On Friday, the convoy of her father, Mr Goje, was attacked by suspected political thugs while the senator was on his way to the state capital to attend a wedding.

According to residents who witnessed the incident, the suspected thugs blocked the Gombe-Bauchi highway near the International Conference Centre in Gombe and set bonfires on the road.

Mr Goje’s media aide, Lilian Nworie, in a statement she issued after the incident in Gombe, said Mr Goje accused the aide-de-camp of the governor of organising the blockade and attack on his convoy.

“He arrived Gombe from Abuja, via Gombe Airport in Lawanti, peacefully until the governor’s aides blocked the road,” the statement said.

“The distinguished senator’s trip was peaceful until when the governor’s aides, including his aide-de-camp and his driver, blocked the road. For two hours, they unleashed terror on Senator Goje and those in his convoy.

“It is unfortunate that one life was lost and many cars vandalised, including the Senator’s vehicle. They smashed the windscreen. All efforts to make the governor’s aide-de-camp remove the blockade yielded no result as he insisted that he got instruction from above that the former governor should not be allowed into the town,” the media aide said in the statement.

Reacting to the incident, the state government said the former governor “caused a breach of peace in the state capital with his visit to the state.”

In a press statement signed by the State Commissioner for Information and Culture, Julius Ishaya, the government accused Mr Goje of mobilising and arming thugs from various LGAs under the pretext that his supporters were accompanying him from the airport into the state capital.

“Recall that during the last Eid el-Kabir Sallah celebration, the same person sponsored some thugs that threw caution into the wind and went on a rampage, leading to the loss of two lives. Also, just last week at Deba in Yamaltu Deba LGA, the same scenario played out at the instance of the Senator.

“It is sad that Goje has not left his old ways and is bent on bringing back his brainchild (Kalare) to unleash mayhem and bug the peaceful atmosphere of Gombe State.

“Gombe state has been witnessing relative peace and harmony due largely to the determination and avowed commitment of Governor Inuwa Yahaya in that direction and therefore the government would not stand by and watch desperate politicians unleash terror and violence on innocent citizens to the extent of getting people killed.

“While sympathising with the families of the victims, Government commends the security agencies for their timely intervention in bringing the ugly situation under control.

“His Excellency, Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, as the Chief Security Officer of the State, will not renege on his responsibilities and therefore will do everything necessary to protect the lives and property of the citizenry. The government will make sure that perpetrators of the unfortunate act, no matter how highly placed, are brought to book,” the statement said.

Mr Goje and the governor are members of the same ruling All Progressives Congress, which took over the state from the People’s Democratic Party at the 2019 general elections. But politicians in the state said the fight between Governor Inuwa Yahaya and Senator Danjuma Goje dated back to 2011 when Goje who was said to have brought Inuwa Yahaya into the polity to succeed him later dumped Inuwa Yahaya for Dankwambo.

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Following the clash last Friday, the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) called for the suspension of Senator Goje from the party.

Goje, who was called in Gombe during his government as ’emperor’ due to his links to many crises, was alleged to be behind the establishment of the deadly gang called ‘ yankalere’.

Dr. Abubakar Ibrahim, spokesman for APC Stakeholders in Gombe state said that Governor Inuwa Yahaya was never accused of any criminal tendencies from childhood until today.

“Governor Yahaya has been a peacemaker and one who sacrificed himself to offer the best for the good people of Gombe and Nigeria at large,’ he said.

The Stakeholders warned Senator Danjuma Goje against his desperate move to compromise peace in the state and throw the administration of governor Yahaya into chaos for his selfish interest.

He asked “Why will Goje recruit the youth into thuggery and drug abuse instead of using his political office to empower them to better our society?”.

The party according to him has given Senator Danjuma Goje one week ultimatum to tender an apology to the party and residents of the state for the violent clash masterminded by his sponsored political thugs.

But in what looks like his reaction to current issues in Gombe, Senator Danjuma Goje, has written to the Inspector General of Police, Alkali Baba; Director General of the Department of State Services, Yusuf Bichi; and Attorney General of Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, over alleged assassination attempt on his life and his personal Assistant, Adamu Manga, by the Aide-De-Camp and Chief Security Officer of Governor Inuwa Yahaya, Superintendent of Police Zulaidaini Abba and Sani Bajoga respectively.

Goje’s petition to the DSS boss, IGP and AGF, written by his Lawyer, VC Nwadike, was dated November 8, 2021.

The petition, already received in the offices of those petitioned, called for investigation into the matter with aim of bringing the Officers involved to justice by prosecuting them after disciplinary action had been taken against them.

The Service Number of the ADC was given as AP/No: 118814 and that of the CSO: AP/No: 57675.

The petition reads: “That on the 5th day of November, 2021, our client came into Gombe through the Gombe International Airport at about 10:30 hours, to attend the wedding ceremony of his relative and some of his constituent supporters and admirers came to the airport to welcome and accompany him home.

“On their way to our client’s home, his personal Assistant and others with them were brutally attacked with guns, cutlass and other dangerous weapons by SP Zulaidaini Abba and Sani Bajoga, CSO to the governor of Gombe state.

“It was by whiskers and the Grace of Allah that our client escaped death, but his personal Assistant was not lucky as he was seriously injured by the attackers with cutlasses.

“At a place near the Gombe International Airport Conference Center, Bauchi-Gombe federal highway, ADC and CSO leading Kawu Keep, Sanusi Attacker, Danjuma Skade and many others came with several vehicles belonging to the Government House and numerous thugs behind them.

“The officers with aid of the vehicles of the government blocked the highway, stopped the movement of our client and those with him for hours.

“The ADC and the CSO commanded the numerous thugs bearing matches, short axes, knives, different shaped hard and dried sticks hitherto shielded by them to attack our client and those with him.

“Our client was fortunate not to be killed but his personal Assistant, Adamu Manga, in the same vehicle with our client, received several machetes cut aimed at shoulder level under the supposition that our client was the one being macheted

“In the course of the unleashed attacks on our client and those with him, five persons (including one Isah Abdullahi M of Pantami Quarters Gombe) were killed; numerous vehicles were burnt and damaged.”

While the blame game was on, families of those slain during the mayhem were left to feel the pains of losing loved ones.  They died for nothing because their blood rather than bring reconciliation was further creating gap in that both governor Inuwa Yahaya and Senator Danjuma Goje are still at dagger drawn days after their demise.

* James Bwala writes from Maiduguri

Governor Inuwa Yahaya, Senator Danjuma Goje and the Blame Game in Gombe