Polls: Kaduna youths lauded for peaceful conduct

Some elders in Kaduna State on Monday commended youths in the state for peaceful conduct and demonstrating a high sense of maturity during Saturday’s Presidential and National Assembly elections.

In separate interviews in Kaduna, the elders described the election as one of the most peaceful in the state.

According to them, the peaceful conduct of the youths marked a turning point towards the actualisation of the needed peace and harmony in the state with a history of electoral violence.

One of the elders, Malam Musa Sahabi, said that despite the few security personnel deployed to some of the polling units, the youths showed a high level of maturity during the exercise by being calm and organised.

“When I came out to cast my vote on Saturday, at Filin Boko Polling Unit, Unguwan Mua’azu Registration Area, I was surprised to see the youths assisting in coordinating the queue as against causing trouble and confusion.

“The situation was not so different at Dandali Polling Unit, where the youths were at the forefront in ensuring that nobody disrupts the process,” Sahabi said.

Similarly, a retired military personnel, popularly known as Mu’azu Old Soldier, told NAN that the election was peaceful because the youths had refused to be used as agents of violence during the elections.

Old Soldier commended the youths for the display of maturity during the elections and urged them to maintain the same decorum in the governorship and House of Assembly elections scheduled for March 9.

“In the past, most elections in Unguwan Mu’azu Ward were marred with one form of violence or the other.

“In fact, on many occasions, the fence of my house, where one of the Polling Units is located gets damaged whenever violence broke out, and I will have to spend money to fix it.

“But this time around, there was no violence, people were calm and the elections were conducted without any form of trouble. I am happy that my fence is still intact and I won’t have to spend a kobo,” he said.

The retired soldier also called on the youths to maintain such laudable behaviour when results were announced and desist from taking over the streets to celebrate or protest the outcome of the elections.

Also, Malam Idris Abubakar described the peaceful conduct of the youths as a sign of improvement in the electoral process in the state.

Abubakar equally commended security agencies for performing their duties within the rule of engagement as stipulated by law.

He added that the presence of the security personnel, who secured the Polling Units from a distance, allowed the electorate to freely cast their votes without fear of molestation or intimidation.

Another elder, Alhaji Ibrahim Ba-Matsala, a member of the Unguwan Muaazu Vigilante Group, attributed the excellent conduct of the youths to the massive awareness campaign carried out in the state prior to the exercise to ensure a peaceful election.