Security operatives clashed on Thursday during the visit of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), to Kaduna State.
The PUNCH had reported that Buhari is on a two-day working visit to the state during which he’s expected to inaugurate some projects in Kafanchan and Zaria towns on Thursday and Friday respectively.
It was learnt the clash occurred while Buhari was inaugurating Kawo Fly-over Bridge within the Kaduna metropolis.
According to reports, the security operatives exchanged blows before normalcy returned.
The clash, it was learnt, happened when operatives of the Department of State Services blocked access to Kawo Bridge immediately after the president mounted it.
The blockage by the DSS operatives was said to affect other vehicles, including those of the Kaduna State Governor, dignitaries, and other state officials.
However, Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State wasn’t affected as he had earlier alighted from his official vehicle and joined the president’s convoy to the bridge.
While El-Rufai Aide-De-Camp’s team insisted that the governor’s official vehicle must be allowed access, the president’s security aides reportedly refused.
Also, journalists and other dignitaries were barred from accessing the Kawo Bridge after El-Rufai and the president’s mounted it.
While inaugurating the Kawo Fly-over Bridge, Buhari said he was impressed by the efforts of the governor.
He said the transformation of the Kaduna metropolis was massive that even himself (President), as a resident of the metropolis, could hardly find his way in the town.
“I have been in Kaduna all the time but can hardly find my way now; you have changed Kaduna; you are writing your history in letters of Gold,” Buhari told the governor while inaugurating the Murtala Muhammad Square.
El-Rufai said the re-modeled Murtala Muhammed Square was first built in the 1970s and handed over to the Kaduna State Government by the Federal Government.
“Murtala Mohammed Square has been re-built and re-developed, and is now a multi-functional facility, with five restaurants, small boutique, hotel, sporting facilities, football pitch, swimming pool, and polo ground,” he said.
