TheCable

Baffa Bichi, secretary to the Kano government, says one of the reasons the roundabout was demolished was because of the Christian cross sign on the structure.

Bichi spoke on Thursday during an interview with Freedom Radio.

“Over 9.99 or 100 percent of Kano indigenes are Muslims. So you can’t have a structure with a large inscription of the cross on it. It’s against Islamic values,” he said.

He said the roundabout near government house was built so tall and was obstructing motorists from having a proper view of the road.

But Abba Yusuf, governor of Kano, had said the roundabout was “substandard and had the tendency to collapse between 2023 and 2024”.

“This is because it was done with used foam work and too much sandy materials instead of normal cement concrete,” the governor said.

“Also, the structure is too tall to be placed in front of the government house as it defaces its main gate which blocks the view for security surveillance.

“Additionally, it poses traffic challenges around the area because of  its size, blocking the view of drivers accessing all routes linked through the roundabout.”

The governor added that the roundabout will be reconstructed and downsized to ensure proper view of the government house and the safety of motorists.

But during the interview, the SSG said there are other structures with cross signs in Kano, adding that the government is working to remove the symbols.

“The big roundabout disrupts motorists from proper view of the road and also if you use a drone to capture the view of the roundabout, you will discover there is a large cross sign at the top of the roundabout,” Bichi said.

“And our clerics have told us that our beloved prophet, whenever he sees such cross inscription on anything, he usually removes them.

“Currently, there are two structures in Kano where if you take a drone photo of these structures, you will find cross symbols on them.

“The government house roundabout and the Muhammadu Buhari underpass in Kano has a similar large cross sign and I can assure you that we are working on plans to have the symbols removed.”