The police command in Sokoto and the State Security Service have warned politicians not to involve them in their political squabbles, insisting that their operatives are not political.

This is contained in a statement jointly issued on Sunday by police commissioner Muhammed Gumel and SSS director Yahaya Hassan in which the security agencies dissociated themselves from a misconstrued fact in a leaked audio.

The statement further clarified that the two security chiefs were not politicians but state peace and security council members.

“The audio, which was released by the media handlers of the former governor Attahiru Bafarawa, is currently in circulation. In this audio, there is a portrayal that the former governor, Senator Aliyu Wamakko, refuses to sign the peace accord, which the CP and director DSS are working on together with Bafarawa,” said the statement.

It added, “For the avoidance of doubt, members of the public should note that the initiative, which is aimed at consultation with the elder statesmen, is also expected to be led by Governor Aminu Tambuwal. This is a call for these highly respected statesmen to come together, put aside their political differences and come up with a statement for the state broadcast, which is intended for all political parties supporters to listen to and make them embrace peace for the good of the greater number of Sokoto residents and not for signing of any form of peace accord document as claimed in the audio.”

The security agencies advised the two politicians to settle their grievances without distorting the mission of the ongoing consultation.

“Which is built in good faith for the portrayal of their images along political lines. Recall that on March 3, the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) launched an operation against political thuggery code-named ‘Kule chas’,” explained the security agencies, revealing that the two security chiefs resolved to contact the elder statesmen on the need to cooperate and prevail on their supporters and all other residents to understand that the operation is to keep Sokoto safe.

“This is also to work with the stakeholders and gather momentum for better ways of providing security for the forthcoming Gubernatorial and supplementary elections. It’s most unfortunate that this viral audio is now in circulation purportedly released by the media handlers of Bafarawa,” it added.

(NAN)