By AbdulSalam Muhammad, Kano
When I set out of my house at Naibawa, Kano last Monday on a triangular trip that would take me through Gyadi Gyadi, Hotoro and back to Naibawa municipality, I knew it was a misadventure.

But I had to suppress my fear because my wife had a date with her doctor at the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, a situation that warranted us to go with all the kids.

A cloud of fear had enveloped Kano as the result of the Presidential election began trickling in and the situation was not  in favour of General Buhari of Congress for Progressive Change.

The development sparked fear, frustration, and tension among his fanatical supporters in the city, and given the political  temperament of Kano it was a big risk putting all my eggs in one basket on that ill fated journey.

However, if there was anyone that had the premonition of danger ahead, it was Umi Zubaida, my 6 years old daughter who vehemently resisted leaving the house and only succumbed after I threatened to let her alone at home. She reluctantly joined her elder brother Abdul Rahaman, and Muhammad Naziru Muhammad in the car’s back seat.

The trip from Naibawa to Gyadi Gyadi and Hotoro was punctured by intermittent calls from friends and wellwishers wishing to confirm if indeed there was a break down of law and order in the commercial city which I promptly dismissed as a wild rumour.

After eventually dropping my wife in the hospital,  I told her to remain there until my return to pick her home. I then embarked on the journey with the kids to Hotoro where my sister resides.

My arrival at Hotoro was greeted with apprehension, and the question was ‘how did you make it here?’ They told me the city was on fire over Buhari’s loss of the Presidency.

Within minutes the reality of what I dismissed as a wild rumour began to dawn on me as police sources confirmed pandemonium in the city.

Yet, I had an appointment to keep at the Pyramid Radio on Audu Bako Way, Nasarawa  GRA. I soon departed my sister’s residence.

At Tarauni, some two kms away, I came face to face with people running for their lives, while desperate motorists made u-turn to avoid the danger ahead. I carefully parked, came out of the car to see what was going on. After assuring myself of safety, I proceeded with the journey through Lamido Crescent, Kawo junction and back to Ahmadu Bello Way enroute Audu Bako way.

On arrival at Pyramid Radio, I got a call from a colleague,  who briefed me on the situation in his area and advised me to return home to take care of the children.

At about 1.30pm,  a group of rioters chased three females to our area, but we rose up to the situation and saved the day. They stayed until an hour later when I conveyed them safely to their home located some 500meters away from where we foiled the attack on them.

The authorities soon imposed an indefinite  curfew, and when the road eased by 3pm, I hit the road to go and pick my wife from Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital. We had an easy ride to Hotoro to convey the children home.

Total destruction dotted the roads, and palpable fear hung in the air.

There was pressure to dissuade us from the journey back home from Hotoro, but I was adamant.

All through the journey from Hotoro back home in Naibawa, rioters massed along the road, erecting barricades. There must have been no fewer than 25 of such.

As we approached Yan Awaki junction, we were flagged down, and a man who appeared to be in charge of the mob told them ‘don’t touch him’, whereupon some one from the crowd said, ‘he looks well fed like a PDP chieftain. His car is flashy, he must be a PDP man’. Within a split second they descended on us.

My wife, Safiya Lawal was injured, and so was Umi Zubaida who sustained a scalp injury. Muhammad Naziru Muhammad had a finger cut. But we miraculously escaped.

As we sped away, we ran into other road blocks, but surprisingly we were allowed passage until we arrived at Cemetery Junction and drove home to safety of the neighbourhood