By TAYE OBATERU
Jos – Presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, Muhammadu Buhari, and his campaign team, Monday , defied the police and went ahead with their planned rally in the Plateau State capital.

The police had refused to grant the CPC clearance to hold the rally on the ground that the PDP had earlier picked the same day for its own rally. The Commissioner of Police, Mr. Abdulrahman Akano, had explained to journalists that considering the crowd pulled by Buhari wherever he goes, the police would not be able to cope with two simultaneous rallies of rival parties.

In apparent defiance of the police position, the rally still went on creating serious security problems as his supporters behaved in an unruly manner which provoked violent reactions from some other people. An unspecified number of lives was said to have been lost in the pockets of violence in some parts.

Security men also had a running battle with youths from Jenta Adamu who were out to take on the unruly supporters of the CPC but were prevented by them. Several canisters of tear gas were fired around the Polo Field venue of the rally creating a generally tensed situation.

The tension was worsened by Sunday’s bomb attempts in some parts which resulted in fresh hostilities between feuding groups in the state. The discovery of three corpses around Farin Gada on Monday was said to have sparked off a fresh round of violence in the area as hoodlums attacked innocent passersby and smashed cars.

In a veiled reference to the unruly behavior of his supporters, Governor Jonah Jang while receiving Buhari who paid him a courtesy call urged political leaders to tame their followers saying, “the major problem we now have in our hands is that of our followers and if we want this democracy to succeed, we must have absolute control over our followers.”

He described the April elections as crucial as the whole world was expecting Nigeria to get it right this time around adding, “what we need to do is to talk to our supporters so that we will protect the good image of this country.”

Buhari had a taste of the unruly behavior of his supporters as they blocked his convoy on his way out of the Government House and insisted they must escort his car to the venue of his rally. He had to agree after every effort to persuade them failed.

General Buhari had told Jang that he was visiting as is the norm for him to call of governors and the traditional heads of states visited. Buhari later met with the state police commissioner, the director of state security services and the commander of the special task force maintaining security in the state who apparently briefed him on the grave security situation in the state.

He later addressed the supporters at the Polo Field for a few minutes before departing with his entourage.