Two prominent traditional rulers in Katsina State have given instructions cancelling the high point of celebration of the Eid El Kabir celebration scheduled for Saturday. The instructions follow an increased rate of insecurity in the country, particularly in the state. Emirs of Katsina and Daura have therefore issued statements suspending the hosting of Durbar celebration on Sallah day. The Durbar is a festival where district heads and prominent families ride horses, mostly at the palace square, to pay homage to the emir and entertain the people. It is usually the high point of the Eid celebration where scores of people gather at the square to watch as the emir watches with admiration. But after two major security breaches on Tuesday, one of which was in the state, the traditional rulers decided to put on hold the celebration that traditionally brings people from the whole emirate together in one place. They must have been scared that the security breach that happened in the state affected the presidential convoy comprising security and protocol staff of the president who are the advance team preparatory to his arrival in the state for the Eid. The second is the attack on the correctional centre in Kuje where terrorists and high profile prisoners, like former governors and security officers, are kept. The instructions from the two traditional rulers came barely 24 hours after the incidents in Dutsinma and Kuje. Sule Mamman-Dee, assistant secretary of the Katsina Emirate Council and Usman Ibrahim, spokesperson of the Daura emirate said their emirs have ordered that the Durbar, a traditional practice of over a century, be suspended during the Eid. Ibrahim said that Faruk Umar Faruk, the emir of Daura asked district heads to stay in their domains for the celebration. Since the district heads are the people who ride the horses at the palace square to pay homage to the emir ,it means there would be no Durbar this year. Mamman-Dee, on his part, quoted the emir, Abdulmumuni Kabir-Usman that he would only attend the Eid prayers on Saturday. The Durbar ,he said, had been suspended. That may also imply that the traditional horse riding, in which the emir will lead members of the emirate council and district heads to pay homage to the governor a day after the Eid will also not take place.The spate of insecurity has been a major concern in the country leading to fears that the forthcoming general elections may be hampered.
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