In the run-up to the just concluded general elections, the biggest worry troubling the minds of residents of Kano State was about the army of thugs parading the state.

Young, armed, under the influence of drugs and hired by powerful politicians, the thugs maintained a menacing presence and ruled the nooks and crannies of the city, often clashing with opposing gangs working for political opponents and leaving behind, death and destruction.

As their activities continued unchecked, the state witnessed what its residents likened to a throwback to the days when parts of Kano were partitioned among rival thug groups whose deadly encounters were the order of the day.

Residents recalled how in those years, a rutted road could serve as a boundary separating turfs belonging to opposing gangs and how so many people were killed or maimed for being on the wrong side of the divide.

As the polls approached, the memories did not just haunt them, they became the new reality. Thug violence, maiming of opponents, destruction of posters, snatching of mobile phones and harassing of residents increased. Inciting comments by political actors at campaigns further heightened fears.

Thugs suspected to be aligned to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the main challenger to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), and seeking to wrest the governorship seat from it, attacked the residence of the state’s APC chairman, allegedly injuring his son, and in retaliation, thugs believed to be working for the APC torched the home of the PDP governorship candidate’s mother. The attacks further raised the stakes.

The leader of the Kwankwasiyya movement, Senator Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso, who anointed Abba Kabir Yusuf, the PDP governorship candidate, threatened that to lead an invasion of the State Government House and sieze the governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje.

In turn, Abdullahi Abbas, the state APC chairman, threatened to take violence to Senator Kwankwaso.

As the two sides kept firing across the bow, residents feared about going out to vote on election day as unmistaken air of violence gripped the state.

It was into this melee that Muhammad Wakili was thrown as new Police Commissioner for Kano State. Immediately he took over, he set for himself a two-point agenda: To fight against drug abuse and thuggery, popularly known as daba.

His logic for targeting the two vices was harped on the belief that if he succeeded in weeding them out, fight against other crimes would be easier for the police and other security agencies.

His commitment and passion to the implementation of his two-point agenda started yielding results in Kano within the very short time, as within the span of 10 days, the police under him arrested 1,700 drug addicts, dealers and members of different thug gangs.

Clips and pictures of heaps of dangerous weapons recovered during the raid became the major point of discussion among many Nigerians after they hit television screens and newspapers the following day.

With this feat, the CP made the bold announcement that a new Sheriff was in town, and residents, happy with his actions, gave him the moniker, Singham, after an honest police officer that was loved by members of his community who starred in a 2011 Indian action film of the same title.

The Kano Singham did not stop at arresting the suspects, he ensured that they were prosecuted in courts and convicted.

This single action of CP Wakili played a greater role in making the presidential poll peaceful in Kano, residents attested.

Also on the eve of the election, the police commissioner ordered for another round of special raids to criminal hideouts, where dozens of thugs and drug addicts were arrested.

The commissioner did not limit his job to only arresting and convicting criminals, he also put in place, measures and strategies for managing crisis during election.

Earlier during the presidential election, CP Wakili ensured not only the deployment of policemen to the polling units, but also their arrival to their respective duty posts in time. He did not sit in his office to monitor the election, rather he led other members of his team to various places, especially places where problems were reported.

For instance, in Tarauni Local Government, thugs stormed a polling unit and destroyed ballot boxes, resulting in disagreement among the political parties’ agents on whether the ballot papers of the affected boxes could be included in the counting or not.

After a heated debate among the agents, the CP was informed about the development and he quickly rushed to the polling unit. He addressed the agents on arrival, and suggested that since only ballot boxes were destroyed and that all parties’ agents believed that the ballot papers were intact, they should be counted in the presence of all the agents.

They welcomed the idea and Wakili stayed there till the end of the count and everybody was happy with his wisdom.

The commissioner was also at Nassarawa Local Government collation centre when a misunderstanding among agents of political parties broke out. There too, he suggested a way out that worked.

The hero of 2019 general elections, as some people call him, was also at Gwale Local Government Area when the area witnessed a political crisis that led to the attack on the son of Alhaji Abbas, the APC state chairman and three others.

In police circles, Wakili is equally loved and respected.

A policeman, who does not want his name in print, told Daily Trust on Sunday that the CP was an exceptional cop that is concerned about the job and those committed to it.

•Excerpted from a Daily Trust report