Police arrest 4 over N6.8m swallowed by gorilla in Kano zoo

• As Ganduje recommends community policing in states

From Edwin Olofu, Kano

The Kano State Police Command, yesterday disclosed that it has arrested four suspects in connection to the case of a gorilla, which allegedly swallowed N6.8 million at Kano Zoological Gardens.
Spokesman of the Command, DSP Abdullahi Haruna, who disclosed the arrest to journalists, said security officials and the accountant of the gardens were among the arrested suspects.
He said they would be charged for negligence.
According to the [police spokesman, the money was kept within the Zoological complex for a period of five days during the Sallah period.
He said investigation was ongoing and anybody found guilty, at the end of investigations would be charged to court for prosecution.
Meanwhile, Kano state governor, Abdullai Ganduje, has advised his colleagues facing the challenges of insecurity to adopt the system of community policing by encouraging the participation of traditional rulers in securing their states.
Briefing newsmen after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday, Ganduje also disclosed that the reconciliation between himself an the Emir of Kano, Lamido Sanusi, was ongoing.
Responding to inquest on how far the investigation into the gorilla that allegedly guzzled N6.8 million in a Kano zoo, the governor said there were reports of armed robbery in the zoo disclosing that investigation was ongoing.
Asked why he came to see the President, he said “I briefed Mr. President on the security situation in Kano State. You know what is current happening in other states surrounding Kano. But we are working in synergy with security in Kano State to ensure that the state remains peaceful despite what is happening in the neighboring states.
Our emphasis is on community policing, community participation, especially those communities located around the forest areas of the state. So, we have built a synergy with the security institutions and our traditional rulers. The traditional rulers are always there and they also get a lot of security reports and they use it a lot to maintain peace in their domains. So, as of today, Kano is one of the most peaceful state.”
Asked to advise the governors of his neighbouring states facing insecurity challenge, he said “I think the best way to tackle these are issues are through community participation so that the security agencies get a lot of information on how to arrest the culprits. Also there is need for the community to avoid being recruited into the insurgency because, once the community is penetrated and the youths are recruited into the insurgency, it becomes complicated and difficult to solve.”
On the N6.8M allegedly swallowed by “ Gorilla at the Kano zoo, he said “You know l already directed the anti- corruption agency in Kano to wade into the issue and they are still investigating. But all l can say now is that preliminary reports indicate that there was armed robbery at the zoo, and not the issue of Gorilla. The issue of Gorilla is junk Journalism. This is because there is even no Gorilla in that zoo. We are told that there was an armed robbery incidence in which the entire safe at the zoo was carted away.”
Asked why the zoo officials had to keep such a huge amount of money in the zoo, he said “Well the outcome of the investigation will let us know what actually happened, but l am sure that there is something wrong anyway.”
Asked how far his reconciliation with the Kano Emir was, he said “It is still going on”.
On whether he was still insisting on removing the Emir, Ganduje queried “Who told you that?”