The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Kajuru local government

  • Kajuru crisis: Release Adara leaders in detention, stakeholders tell El-Rufa’i

    Some stakeholders in crisis ridden Kajuru Local Government, Kaduna  State, on Monday urged the State Peace Commission to prevail on Gov. Nasiru El-Rufai to facilitate the release of Adara leaders arrested after recent killings in the area.

    The News  Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that members of the peace commission led by the Chairman, Rev. Josiah Idowu-Fearon, visited the area in their push for reconciliation among the warring communities.

    Both the Chairman, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in the area, Mr Makama Danjuma and Mr Patrick Maigari, Chairman of the local reconciliation committee, said the release of Adara community leaders would fast track reconciliation and engender confidence in the process.

    Maigari in particular said reintegration of the people for lasting peace was possible, but the first step should be the release of those in detention.

    He called on all communities in the local government to shun all forms of violence, ethnicity and religious bigotry and ensure peaceful coexistence.

    Idowu-Fearon, said the commission would continue to play its part until peace is achieved in the state.

    “We are also investigating the situation that brought about the reoccurrence of the crisis in the area.

    ”We are here to help government to resolve the situation and also give out recommendations for lasting peace,” he said.

    Read Also: Kadun: El-Rufa’i vows to punish perpetrators of crisis

    The Executive Vice Chairman of the commission, Priscilla Ankut while commensurating with victims of the crisis, said the commission would continue collaborating with the stakeholders to jointly bring about solution to the crisis in order to bring about meaningful development in the area.

    Ankut explained that the meeting was to discus with stakeholders to commit themselves to proper and lasting reconciliation.

    The Chairman, Kajuru LGA,  Mr Cafra Caino, represented by his deputy, Mr Jagaba Kutara, thanked the commission for the encouraging engagement towards peace building in the area.

    According to him, over 40, 000 internally displaced persons are currently taking refuge in eight camps in the area.

    Also, JNI Chairman, Kajuru LGA, Sheikh Dahiru Kabir, expressed regret over recurring attacks in the area after each reconciliation meeting

    He called on all to shun sentiments, be sincere and committed to the peace process, and “expose those behind the crime irrespective of who they are”

    NAN

     

  • Kaduna killings: Fulani demand probe panel

    Put casualty figure at 131

     

    A coalition of Fulani groups is demanding the setting up of a panel by the Federal and Kaduna State governments to investigate the recent alleged killings in Kajuru local government area of Kaduna State.

    Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore Fulani Socio-cultural Association, Mobgal Fulbe Development Association (MOFDA), Gan Allah Fulani Development Association (GAFDAN) and Fulbe Global Development and Right Initiative at a joint press conference in Kaduna on Friday also asked the security agencies to  commence “the process of detailed documentation of the violence, including collection of exhibits and all relevant information to isolate the perpetrators of the violence, arrest and prosecute them for genocide.”

    They said their verification showed that 131 Fulani were killed during the mayhem,one more than the 130 figure given by Governor Nasir El-Rufai.

    The groups claimed that while 66 bodies were recovered, many other bodies could not be found apparently because they have been burnt by the perpetrators of the killings.

    Their spokesman, Engr. Saleh Alhassan of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore said: “In terms of human loss, 131 persons have so far been killed.

    “The bodies of 66 persons were recovered as earlier stated, where mass burials were performed, with the highest being 37 persons buried in a single, shallow grave in a valley.

    “The dead bodies of 65 pastoralists are yet to be recovered. It is important to state here that, survivors had seen when the members of their families were captured by the Adara youths and moved in the directions of the forest for cold-blooded execution in the most brutal of ways.”

    Read Also: Death toll hits 130 in Kaduna killings

    Alhassan condemned what he called attempts by some people and organizations to deny the killings.

    His words: “Since the news of the carnage first broke, some people without any iota of evidence began discrediting the reports from the security authorities.

    “Furthermore, many others began to politicise this gruesome crime, where innocent lives were lost.

    “Our organisations had taken time to interact with the victims and ascertain the level of death, killing of animals, loss of properties.

    “It is established that the attackers applied maximum violence, adopting total annihilation where all members of families attacked were killed irrespective of age and gender. For this reason, nobody was spared, except those who survived through the miracles of the Almighty God.

    “This is the third time that these forms of crimes are committed by the Adara communities against the pastoralists, now becoming a recurring phenomenon since 2017.

    “I believe every Nigerian will recall the brutal murder of about 100 innocent pastoralists, mostly children, women and the elderly by the Adara militia youths at Angwan Aku and environs in June 2017.

    “That episode is yet to be investigated, and to date, nobody is held accountable.”

    “We recognize the effort of the security agencies in rescuing some of the victims, but hasten to add that, there intervene came too late after the brutal murder of many.”

    The coalition released a list purportedly containing the names of the victims of the mayhem.

    The casualties include 70 children under the age of 10 and 16 others between the ages of 11 and  20 years.

    Sixty-six of the victims were females.

     

  • Odinkalu’s misjive

    Chidi Odinkalu’s open rebuttal of Governor Nasir El Rufai’s claim, that 66 locals were killed in the Kajuru Local Government of Kaduna State, would appear ill-advised.

    It could well be interpreted as yet another slur on the victims by local fanatics.  That could result in a future retaliatory blood bath.

    Governor El Rufai, on virtual election eve, had announced the death of the 66, by alleged gunmen.  He pleaded with the victims, believed mostly to be ethnic Fulanis, not to retaliate; adding that the motive was to provoke a reprisal and sabotage the elections in the area.

    But Prof. Odinkalu, former chair, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), sensationally controverted the governor, claiming from his own findings, no more than 11 was killed, and the governor was only playing to the gallery.

    The Cable, an online newspaper, then ran a story which, complete with its accompanying reader feedbacks, all but suggested the governor all but made up the tragedy.

    All taken together, Odinkalu’s intervention was rash and a tad unwise.  To start with, a governor’s voice out to take primacy, in security matters of his state.  He has better access, other things being equal, to security briefings and other intelligence, than other citizens.  He is the chief security officer of his state.

    Odinkalu, therefore, might not be in a position to countermand the governor, no matter how reliable he felt his own cross-sources were.

    Besides, suggesting a governor would just wake up and play politics, with people’s lives, could be pandering to nihilism.  The Nigerian system might be sick.  But nihilism is a new low, to which no one should sink.

    But apart from rashness, Odinkalu’s intervention was rather tactless.  A tragedy, even if disputed, had just occurred.  The governor was touring the troubled spot and trying to calm the angry victims — a governor that could speak the language of the aggrieved and bond with them.  Then, came another voice, bearing a southern name, claiming it was all but empty drama.

    What if things had taken a turn for the worse?  What if things had spiralled out of control, and the victims had lunched reprisal attacks, claiming provocation by Odinkalu’s counter-claims?

    Who would have taken responsibility for the new carnage, knowing that when life is lost, it can never be regained?  That is why Odinkalu ought to have been more sensitive — and circumspect.

    Southern Kaduna has been a bitter zone for ancestral feuds — settlers versus natives, Muslims versus Christians, Hausa/Fulani versus other ethnics.

    This gory cycle has gone on for too long because of sickening dynamics.  A side claims a set of aggressors have illicit backing from their kith-and-kin in government.  The other counters that the media hushes up its own fatalities while they are hysteric in trumpeting the other side’s, with ethnic bias determining the tilt.  It’s a cycle of war without end that must be broken.

    Which is why Governor El Rufai must not rest until he pacifies the victims, and dissuades them from future reprisals.  The best way to do that is arrest the perpetrators of the killing — not only the foot soldiers but the masterminds — try them and get justice for the dead and the maimed.

    As for Prof. Odinkalu, he should be more restrained next time.  The needless controversy he sparked could easily have worsened the matter.  Thank God it didn’t — at least, not yet.

     

  • Buhari condemns killings in Kajuru, Kaduna State

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday night said that he was “pained beyond words” by the news of the new wave of killings on election eve in Kaduna State.

    Reacting to the reports of violent killings in Kajuru local government, Kaduna State, President Buhari described it as an “act of cowardice.”

    In a statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and publicity, Garba Shehu, the President assured that security forces will investigate and apprehend all those involved.

    Read also: Election: FRSC sets up Situation Room

    “The perpetrators of this mayhem will not go unpunished,” said the President.

    He said that the action will not distract the nation from the elections starting tomorrow (today).

    His government, he said, is determined to foil the designs of those who want to disrupt the exercise.