Southern Kaduna killings: Christian leaders, SOKAPU shun peace summit

 AbdulGafar Alabelewe, Kaduna

CHRISTIAN leaders in  Southern Kaduna and the Southern Kaduna Peoples Union (SOKAPU) on Tuesday shunned a summit to restore peace in the crisis-torn part of Kaduna State.

However, the peace summit  went on as scheduled in Kafanchan, the headquarters of Jema’a Local Government Area with over 100 participants from across religious groups.

Chairman of the Peace and Reconciliation Committee on Southern Kaduna Crises and former Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Martin Agwai, urged Governor Nasir El-Rufai to do everything humanly possible to ensure that his administration found  lasting solution to the over 40-years  crisis.

The summit   organised by  friends of Southern Kaduna in collaboration with  the Nigeria Christian Pilgrims Commission (NCPC) has ‘De-escalating violence in Southern Kaduna” as its theme.

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But the  Southern Kaduna leaders, under the aegis of   the Southern Kaduna Christian Leaders Association (SKCLA), said they stayed  away from the peace meeting because some “key stakeholders” were left out.

Also, the Kaduna State chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) said it did not   trust the organisers of the event while SOKAPU asked that it should be rescheduled.

Chairman of SKCLA , Bishop Simon Mutum, said  the key stakeholders who had borne the brunt of the crisis in the area  only learned of the peace summit a few hours to its commencement.

Mutum  added that the group would welcome an explanation by the organisers on why they  decided to sideline SOKAPU and the state chapter of CAN  in the planning the summit.

He said:  “We are  deeply concerned about who the ‘Friends of Southern Kaduna’ are and what may be their real motives.”