- An explosion hit a police station in Maiduguri
- Court ruled that INEC unlawfully disqualified Atiku Abubakar from 2007 elections
According to G.K Chesterton, people who make history know nothing about history and you can see that in the sort of history they make.
History can be linked to a person’s chosen cuisine. The want and desire increase as we consume more. As we analyze previous events that have either harmed or benefited our country, we must actively be motivated by the everyday inspirations.
Two significant historical occurrences that took place on April 16 in the history of this nation were highlighted by WITHIN NIGERIA in an effort to raise awareness for educational reasons.
An explosion hit a police station in Maiduguri
On this day, April 16 in 2011, an explosion hit a police station in Maiduguri just as presidential elections were beginning on Saturday, the second blast in the past 24 hours.
According to residents, the blast happened at a police station in the Lami Sula district of Maiduguri, which lies in the remote state of Borno near Nigeria’s borders with Chad, Cameroon and Niger.
“People are so scared. Some have started abandoning the polling stations,” said one resident who asked not to be named.
A blast tore through the local office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) late last night, although nobody was injured, officials said. There were also sporadic bursts of gunfire overnight.
There have been a spate of killings of politicians, police officers and religious leaders in Borno in recent months. The violence has been blamed on radical Islamist sect Boko Haram but has become increasingly political in the run-up to the polls.
Two gunmen on a motorbike shot dead a soldier in Maiduguri on Friday morning. The leading candidate in governorship elections being held on April 26 was also shot dead in January along with other officials from his party.
Court ruled that INEC unlawfully disqualified Atiku Abubakar from 2007 elections
On this day, April 16 in 2007, Supreme Court ruled that the country’s electoral commission unlawfully disqualified a top opposition politician once allied with the president from running to replace his former mentor.
The decision in favor of Vice President Atiku Abubakar, just days before the presidential vote, came after violence and fraud charges during weekend state elections underlined questions about the state of democracy in Africa’s most populous country.
Judge Umaru Katsina Alu, reading a unanimous judgment from the seven-judge panel, struck down an earlier appeals court decision that said the electoral commission had the right to vet and disqualify candidates.
“The Supreme Court has spoken,” said Joe-Kyari Gagzama, a lawyer for the electoral commission.
Abubakar fell out with Obasanjo last year after helping subdue a drive by the president’s supporters to amend the constitution and allow a third elected term for President Olusegun Obasanjo, whose 1999 election ended decades of near-constant military rule.
