ALL Progressives Congress (APC) in Southern Kaduna has warned Senator Danjuma La’ah to desist from sabotaging government’s effort and complicating the killings for political gains.
At a news conference yesterday, Southern Kaduna Zonal Chairman Luka Shemang, and State Director of Media and Publicity, Manasseh Istifanus, accused La’ah and other opposition members of planting hatred in the people’s heart to score cheap points.
He said although the attacks were inherited from the past administration, Governor Nasir El-Rufai took steps to address the situation.
Shemang called on the opposition to stop the unpatriotic act and support El-Rufai to end terrorism.
He said: “We are not here to join issues with them; rather we want to set the records straight as they affect the peace-loving people of Southern Kaduna and our party.
“Recall that in 2011, the government initiated a peace and reconciliatory committee, with a view to bringing peace to the region, and some level of success were recorded.
“But in 2012, a new government, under Governor Mukhtar Ramalan Yero, was formed and the attacks continued as no peace initiative was initiated nor was any concrete security arrangement made to safeguard life and property. The attacks continued until 2015 when Nasir El-Rufai came to power.
“In an effort to bring lasting peace to the region, the government constituted a committee, chaired by Gen. Martin Luther Agwai (rtd), whose function among others, was to review the 2011 peace report and make recommendations to the government.
“Several peace meetings were organised and snubbed by some perceived groups and individuals bent on poisoning the minds of our people in a bid to discredit government’s efforts.
“This act cannot be tolerated and we urge them to desist and accord us the respect we deserve, especially the governor, deputy governor and any other person serving in this government.
“We want to state here that in as much as we encourage constructive criticism from the opposition, we want to relay our disappointment about certain individuals who have been talking recently, who don’t even have the moral standing to talk.
“We, as a party from Southern Kaduna, will continue to ensure that our government takes steps and actions to protect lives and properties and stop the bloodletting.”
Tag: Kaduna killings
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Kaduna killings: APC warns senator
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Kaduna killings: El-Rufai denies paying herdsmen
Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai has denied paying Fulani herdsmen to instigate the Southern Kaduna crisis.
His media aide Samuel Aruwan, at a news conference yesterday, reiterated that El-Rufai did not pay the herdsmen, to either appease or arm them, as widely reported in the media.
The Senator representing Kaduna South, Danjuma La’ah, accused El-Rufai of paying the Fulani herdsmen for killing his constituents.
According to Aruwan, El-Rufai has continued with the peace efforts of former Governor Patrick Yakowa, and will do whatever is legitimate to secure lasting peace in the area.
He noted that the late Yakowa tried to foster reconciliation with affected Fulani communities, to stem the spiral of vengeance and reprisals.
“Yakowa’s efforts were not sustained after his death and violence persisted. When it became our responsibility to provide security for the state, we re-established these contacts so that those who felt they lost in the 2011 violence could let go.
“The quest for peace and the imperative of stemming human suffering require leaders to explore conventional and unusual means to build peace. That is why the Kaduna State government is combining security action with dialogue and peace-building efforts in Southern Kaduna,” Aruwan said.
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Kaduna killings: ECWA blames attacks on grazing reserve
The Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) has attributed the attacks on communities in Southern Kaduna to the re-creation of grazing reserves.
The 19 District Church Council (DCC) Fellowship urged the government to stop the move to enable peace and security reign. It also called on the Federal Government to establish a military barracks in the region to provide additional security for residents.
The church also urged the government to ensure that lands forcefully occupied by herdsmen are restored back to rightful owners, just as it asked for compensation for affected persons and relief material for displaced persons.
It advised El-Rufai to use the N100 million seed money for rebuilding churches and mosques to provide adequate security for the people.
ECWA DCC Chairman Rev. Zachariah Gado and Secretary Rev. James Moore said: “as preachers of the Word, we follow the practical teachings of Christ, which abhors violence in any form. We are forever for peace, brotherliness and everything that will advance reconciliation and the wellbeing of humanity.
“While we stand in unity with every Fulani, Hausa and Muslim group that seeks peace, unity, justice and development, we can no longer maintain silence in the face of unabated illegality, violence and the wasting of innocent lives.
“The attacks are not in self-defence. No group that invades a community, kills women and children, burns homes, foodstuff and houses of worship can legitimately claim to be acting in self-defence. Even in ancient times, non-combatants were spared from slaughter.
“We have come to the unfortunate conclusion that the announced intention of the Kaduna state government to “re-create existing cattle grazing reserves” in Southern Kaduna serves as a major motivation for the renewed ethno-religious violence.
“We appeal to the government, in the interest of justice, peace and security, to respect the wishes of the people and stop the creation of grazing reserves.”
The church also declared a three-day fasting from next Monday for all members.
However, while addressing the people of Chawai in Kauru council, El-Rufai, who was represented by a delegation of government officials led by Deputy Governor Barnabas Bala Bantex and Secretary to the State Government (SSG) Balarabe Abbas, said the government had ordered investigation into the killings.
Bantex led other government functionaries to assess the situation and condole with the people. They also donated relief materials to the displaced residents at Chawai primary school, Kauru.
The governor, who appealed to residents to live in peace with one another irrespective of religion and ethnicity, warned mischief makers to stop attacks in some parts of the state.
“We are here to condole with the victims and also assess the situation on ground. We have received preliminary reports and we have already ordered investigation into the matter.
“We inherited the breakdown of law and but we are working to restore peace in some parts of Southern Kaduna and places like Birnin Gwari.”
He added that the government would continue to provide adequate security until peace returns, even as he advised residents not to take laws into their hands.
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Police parades eight kidnappers in Kaduna, 450 others
Kaduna Police Command on Friday paraded 258 criminal suspects including eight kidnappers of the three Reverends abducted in Kaduna recently.The Nation recalls that on the 21st of March, 2016, three Rev’d; Dr Emmanuel Dziggau, Yakubu Talba Dzarma and Iliya Anto, who eventually died in his abductors’ custody, were kidnapped while inspecting their church’s site along Kaduna-Abuja highway.The paraded kidnappers include Lawal Usman, Zakari Yau, Mohammed Dani, Sure Bako, Mustapha Sadiq, Babangida Sule, Usman Abdullahi and Bake Shaaban.Parading the suspects in Kaduna, Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG), Zone 7, Bala Nassarawa, said all the suspects were arrested after careful study and identification of their hideouts through intelligence gathering.When asked what is police doing to arrest the killers of Colonel Samaila Inusa who was abducted and killed on 26th if March, 2016 around NNPC junction, Kaduna, the AIG said a team of investigators sent by the Inspector General of Police, Sunday Arase, Kaduna Command’s criminal investigation department and the military, are working in synergy to bring the perpetrators to book.He said, “in prosecuting campaign of getting rid of miscreants in Kaduna State, I requested and got continents of personnel from Counter Terrorism Unit (CTU), Special Protection Unit (SPU), Intelligence Response Team as well as Forensic and Crime Data Unit from Force headquarters in Abuja.“We have identified many criminal hideouts of these armed bandits across the state and equally have a dossier of some renown car snatchers,” he added.He further added that one AK47 riffle with 16 rounds of live ammunition, N100, 500 and other foreign currencies, a motorcycle and three passport photographs of a kidnap victim were recovered from some of the kidnappers.On what mechanism is police using to arrest the suspects, he declined for security reasons, but was quick to add that some cell phones which the suspects have been using in the operation were recovered.Some of the kidnappers interviewed denied the allegation leveled against them, saying they are just victims of circumstance.One of the female suspects, Rose Bernard, told Saturday Sun that she alongside her boyfriend, Olofo, had gone for a drink in an hotel located at Nassarawa, area of the state at about 7pm on Sunday when the Policemen came and arrested them, adding that she had not been informed on why she was arrested and kept in detention.Other categories of suspects paraded include armed robbers, rustlers, rapists, drug traffickers among others. -
CAN to FG: Stop the impending genocide now
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Kaduna State on Thursday warned against allowing the killings in the southern part of the state and in parts of Plateau State to snowball into some kind of genocide reminiscent of the development in the Central African Republic.
The Chairman of the Christian umbrella body in the state and Catholic Bishop of Zaria, Bishop George Dodo, also condemned the weekend killing of Zaria-based Islamic cleric, Sheikh Mohammed Awwal-Albani, his son, Abdallah and wife by yet to be identified gunmen.
Bishop Dodo said that whatever reasons that led to the killing of the cleric and member of his family, dialogue, remained the best way to resolve the differences.
He said that government should take immediate steps to address the killings in the two local government areas.
He Pointed out that the killings in the local government were unacceptable, more so that the perpetrators got away unscathed.
He wondered why nobody has been brought to book over the attack, adding that those that committed the atrocities are human beings and not spirits and therefore warned that something should be done to apprehend those responsible before things gets out of hands.