Shortly after the mass killing of innocent people in three villages of Maro’a Chiefdom in Southern Kaduna, the then Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Dikko Abubakar, set up a committee to find a lasting solution to the constant invasion of Southern Kaduna villages by suspected Fulani herdsmen.
The meeting, which took place at the Conference Hall of the General Hassan Usman Katsina House in Kaduna, agreed on what they called a cease-fire arrangement. Many, especially Southern Kaduna youths, did not believe in the peace deal. It soon collapsed a few months after the agreement was reached, signed and celebrated.
Gunmen attacked a police station at Fadan Karshi in Sanga Local Government Area of Kaduna State, killing six people. The police downplayed the attack.
On Sunday, June 22, this year, barely 24 hours to the international conference organised by the Office of the National Security Adviser which aimed at finding a lasting solution to the constant attacks by Fulani herdsmen, a couple was killed in their farm also in Fadan Karshi.
Surprisingly, less than 24 hours after the conference was declared open by the Vice-President, Mohammed Namadi Sambo, who represented President Goodluck Jonathan, two villages were attacked by the same Fulani herdsmen, killing no less than 38 people.
Between June and September, over 300 people have been killed in separate attacks in the same community of Fadan Karshi.
What started as an attack on two communities in Sanga Local Government Area, gradually spread around the local government with more villages coming under the attack of the Fulani herdsmen; leaving in their trail series of death of innocent men, women and children.
The attackers invaded Kabamu Village in Fadan Karshi District and Ankpon in Nandu District both of Numana Chiefdom at 10:00 p.m. on the night of Monday, June 22, this year. The last attack by the gunmen in the same community claimed over 20 lives, with several others sustaining various degrees of injuries.
The attack, which took place on September 19, was said to have started at midnight. The attackers set houses ablaze. One of the survivors of the attack who identified himself as Bitrus Solomon was quoted as saying that many people who could not run were shot dead.
Apart from these attacks which lasted for almost one week without help coming to the victims, the community has constantly suffered series of attack since then. It was gathered that farmers in the area could not go to their farms due to fear of probable attacks. As they could not cultivate their farm lands this year, fears are that the community may experience starvation.
However, the people have accused the Governor Mukthar Ramalan Yero of being insensitive to their plight, saying he merely condemned the attacks and does nothing to ensure that they are safe.
Rev. Yunana Oganto, President of ReachForth Nigeria and a native of the area told our correspondent that Governor Yero has not shown any sign of sensitivity about the events. He urged the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency in Southern Kaduna. They believe it’s the only way to stop the carnage.
Apart from the incidents in Fadan Karshi, there had been other serious attacks in other parts of Southern Kaduna; the most fatal being in Bondon and Fadan Attakkar.
Having accused the governor of being insensible to their plight, the people turned against him when he decided to visit. Apparently, the governor’s decision not to visit may not be unconnected with the ugly incident when he paid a similar visit to Manchok where angry residents threw stones at his convoy. But his visit to Fadan Karshi may also have been a terrible mistake.
Even though he went there with a high-powered security team, the women in the area did not consider his visit a friendly one. Concerned about the repeated attacks on the people, the governor decided to visit them.
He was, however, conscious of the fact that when his deputy, Nuhu Bajoga visited the area after the earlier attacks in June, he was not well received and so decided to visit the area well prepared. The latest attack was alleged to have been carried out by suspected Ansaru Islamic terrorists who disguised themselves as Fulani gunmen.
Our correspondent gathered that the people, especially women, decided to embarrass the governor who was received at the Palace of the District Head of Fadan Karshi. Majority of the women protested half nude as a way of showing their displeasure to the killings of their people and the seeming lack of interest by the state government.
The National President of Ninzom Progressive Youths, Bezard Wuyah who confirmed the action of the women explained that “the women were angry that after about seven attacks on their villages, in which not less than 300 people were killed since July, the governor had not visited the place until a few weeks to the primary elections.”
Our source claimed that the governor decided to visit them because it was almost time for election. This informed the protest by the women who carried placards with inscriptions such as “election time is near, come and deceive Sanga people again”, “the blood of our husbands would haunt the guilty,” and “give us food, do not scare us with soldiers,” among others.
Wuyah further said that “the governor came with hundreds of soldiers, policemen, Roads Safety Corps, State Security Service (SSS), even with a detachment of Prison Guards. It was more of an invasion, not a condolence visit. Our mothers and sisters who were expecting a sober, caring governor were furious when they noticed that the visit was meant to intimidate them.
“So, they had to bare their minds with regard to the negligence they had suffered since gunmen sacked their villages and rendered them homeless. You will be surprised to learn that the women were organised. They were united in their grief and anger as neglected widows. They came from about seven ethnic groups.
“One of them lost her husband and four sons. They and their children are starving in refugee camps that are not fit for human habitation. Natives of Sanga are law-abiding and we are appealing to everyone to remain calm since the governor has come and seen the situation.”
On its part, the Southern Kaduna Indigenes Progressive Forum (SKIPFO) accused the governor of going to Sango to show off his might. Its Chairman, Major George Nchok Asake (rtd) said in a statement that “it is no longer news that the state governor Alhaji Mukhtar Ramalan Yero has never deemed it necessary to pay any condolence visit to the affected Southern Kaduna communities that have had their people brutally and mercilessly killed. He has also not taken any action to protect the affected communities or any other Southern Kaduna community for that matter, except those occupied by his settlers Hausa/Fulani brothers.
“Yero visited Fadan Karshi with a very large contingent of armed personnel. That was not a show of sympathy or condolence. It was pure show of state might to intimidate and suppress any dissension in view of his hate against our people. We kick against this show of naked power and we want to assure him that we shall take our revenge at the ballot box.”
But a group of Southern Kaduna youths under the auspices of the Yero Vanguard who have sympathy for the governor told our correspondent that the action of the women was a show of shame as the governor had done everything possible to ensure that the people are safe.
Their spokesman, Istifanus Musa accused politicians in the area of sponsoring the protest against the governor who was in Fadan Karshi to sympathise with the people.
He said: “After the first attack in the area, the governor sent his deputy and some relief materials. This time, he decided to visit the people himself. What wrong has he done to warrant such humiliation? The man has done well for the people of the state since he assumed office. Instead of being grateful to him, people are sponsoring such demonstrations against him,
however, a coalition of civil society organisations in Southern Kaduna alleged at a news conference, that the government has decided to victimise some of those who took part in the protest against the governor during his visit. They alleged that rather than assuring the people of their safety, the government decided to hold one Mrs. Christiana E. Musa responsible for organising the women for the protest. Mrs. Musa, who they claimed is a native of Sanga Local Government Area and Head of Health Department, Jema’a Local Government Area, was allegedly issued a query by the Director of Administration, Promotion and Discipline, Kaduna State Local Government Service Commission, Sadiq A. Iyal.
In the letter, the government claimed that she participated in the protest staged against the governor, which “caused a lot of embarrassment to the governor and his entourage, saying it contravened section 17(1) (a)(1) of the Unified Local Government Service Staff Regulation(2012).”
They also alleged that she was immediately transferred to Birnin Gwari Local Government Area and left without any portfolio. They further claimed: “Mrs. Christiana E. Musa neither organised nor participated in the protest. Indeed, there is no empirical evidence linking the said Mrs. Musa with the said protest. To all intents and purposes, she was made a scapegoat by a high-handed government which has failed to appreciate the core values of democracy.
“Amidst the anguish of the victimisation of Mrs. Christiana by the government of the day, the indigenous people of Sanga were acrimoniously plunged into an illogical blame game.
The governor’s spokesman, Ahmed Maiyaki failed to respond to enquiries about the issue. He neither responded to calls nor replied electronic mail and text messages sent to him for comment on the issue.
But he was quoted by a national daily as saying that “it is totally untrue. No demonstration took place. The people of Fadan Karshi are indeed saddened by the unfortunate incident in the area. And the governor shares in their grief. And as a good leader, his visit was to commiserate with them. His visit is not political.”
