By AbdulGafar Alabelewe, Kaduna
Worried by the spate of killings occasioned by banditry, insurgency and other security challenges in the region, Northern Traditional Rulers Council on Monday met in Kaduna, saying enough is enough, especially on the killings in Southern Kaduna.
Speaking at the expanded executive meeting of the Council, which had senior traditional rulers from Southern Kaduna in attendance, Chairman of the Council and Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad. Sa’ad Abubakar (III), called on those involved in killings in Southern Kaduna to stop the act immediately.
The Sultan who said the meeting was called, to discuss ways towards ending the escalating spate of insecurity in the Northern Region with a view to bring an end to the scourge, said though the council is aware of the protocols of meeting informed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the meeting was enlarged by the invitation of the senior traditional rulers from southern Kaduna primarily to discuss the continuous escalation of violence and insecurity in that part of the state.
According to the Sultan, “Everybody in Nigeria is worried about this crises, it has been lingering on for so many years but I think it is time to put a stop to this madness because it is total madness for people to kill one another for no just reason, but due to political affiliation, ethnicity, religion and who you are, where you come from, no sane government would condole this mayhem, continuous murder of people
Read Also: Sultan, El-Rufai meet on Southern Kaduna killings
“Recently, we have seen the truth of concerned citizens and stakeholders to Sir Kasim Ibrahim house and the seat of government of Kaduna state of different individuals and groups to discuss with the governor on this lingering issue and I think and want to believe the beginning of the end of this mayhem and madness has started. We have seen people from all walks of life coming down to discuss with the governor of Kaduna state on the best way out.”
“Most of the chairmen are here and we believe at the end of this session, we will come up with a position paper that will be sent to the Kaduna state government on one of the best ways of finding lasting solution to peace and stability not only in Kaduna but in other parts of northern states,” Sultan said.
The Sultan noted that, the meeting was also called to discuss the issue of COVID-19 pandemic and how it is affecting the people and what the traditional leaders should do.
Governor Nairu El-Rufai in his remarks said his government is doing everything possible to bring the crisis in Southern Kaduna to an end.
According to El-Rufai, “These communal clashes in Kaduna have been going on since 1980. We have done everything we can by establishing military bases, establishing mobile police, we even have air force and special forces present all over southern Kaduna to increase the number of security presence in the state. This has helped to a large extent.
“Kaduna is a mini-Nigeria with over 52 ethnic groups, meaning that 10 percent of Nigeria’s ethnic groups are from Kaduna state.
“The danger of it is that, crimes committed by criminals for their own selfish motives are given ethno-religious interpretations”.
Speaking on what his administration has been doing to abate the killings El-Rufai said, “a military base, Mobile Police Depot, Air Force and strike force personnel have been deployed to the zone.
“Also, equipment like drones and GSM trackers are being used which had helped to neutralized thousands of the bandits in the State. We also set up a Peace Commission to mitigate between the aggrieved people,” the governor said.
Leave a Reply