el-rufa’i Deliberately Fanning the Embers of Ethno-Religious Crisis, He is Worst Governor Kaduna ever had : SOKAPU Says

The Fulani herdsmen/militia have continued with their sole agenda of exterminating the people of Southern Kaduna with a view to taking over their ancestral land, while organs of both state and Federal government have failed to rise up to their constitutional duty of protecting the lives and properties of the people of Southern Kaduna

Based on the repeated destruction of village after village, the youth on Monday 19th December staged a peaceful protest to express the deliberate insensitivity of the government to their plight. Despite provocation from some hurling stones at them, the youths calmly went about their constitutionally allowed rights to express themselves.

Latching on to that, the Government quickly imposed a 24 curfew on Jema’a Local Government. The Governor then theatrically came to Kafanchan to hold a jamboree Security Council and mothers whose husband, sisters and children have been killed for years came out half naked to show their dissatisfaction with the deliberate manner the killings have been left to fester. https://kadunanewsonline.com/politics

Rather than the governor utilizing this opportunity to show his unbiased leadership capability, he rather preferred the path of, insensitivity and unbridled arrogance in responding to the women. His choice of words was provocative and reckless for one who is supposed to be a governor for all in the state.

The following day, the governor followed it up with a state media chat on radio in which he was even more insensitive, again recklessly churning lies that defamed the whole peace loving people of Southern Kaduna. He also continued with his several attempts to change the real narrative of what has been happening in Southern Kaduna.

Based on these SOKAPU Youth Wing wishes to observe the following:

1. The Governor is avoiding issues by harping on women protesting naked. It was because of his failure to do the needful that resulted in that extreme resolve by our mothers to protest naked.

2. El-rufai insisted that he will continue to pay herdsmen who have been killing and terrorizing people in Southern Kaduna, but has he deemed it fit to pay the relatives of a single person in Southern Kaduna who has been killed by his kinsmen?

3. How can a governor of a sensitive state like Kaduna open his mouth to allege that the protest in Kafanchan was planned in a church? Where do the herdsmen sit and plan theirs – Government House?

4. El-rufai claimed that men of Southern Kaduna cowardly sent their women to protest instead of them but the governor has also cowardly flooded Southern Kaduna with security to arrest curfew breakers instead of sending them to go and arrest the killers of our people.

5. It’s the height of cowardice for a governor to instigate the security men to arrest those who are trying to defend themselves rather than arresting those who have been killings them. Suddenly, Jema’a, Zangon Kataf and Kaura LGs have been flooded with security men, why were they not brought earlier to defend the people of southern Kaduna?

6. For the Governor to insist on enforcing a 24-hour curfew right in the midst of the celebration of Christmas simply showed his biased mind and acute insensitivity to the feelings of people of southern Kaduna.

7. Since emerging as the governor of Kaduna state, El-rufai just couldn’t hide his raw contempt for the people of Southern Kaduna. Because for the first time, less than 30 % of Commissioners of Kaduna State are from Southern Kaduna.

8. Less than 5% of all the capital projects El-Rufai is executing are in Southern Kaduna. Well, this flagrant discrimination bears no surprise as same El-Rufai once said on national- Channels TV during the Kad-Invest program that Kaduna state has a 70/30 percent of Moslems-Christians ratio.

9. The Governor lied when he alleged that Southern Kaduna parents indoctrinate their children to hate Muslim rulers, but what he is currently doing and saying is worse than creating division in Kaduna state. He is deliberately fanning the embers of an ethno-religious crisis in Kaduna state. He has been the worst thing that has happened to Kaduna state in terms of statesmanship.

10. His insistence that the killings in Southern Kaduna were a reprisal is the worst of all lies ever uttered by a governor. There was no record of any foreign Fulani killed in 2011. Come to think of it, how did southern Kaduna become the meeting points of herdsmen from 14 different countries?

11. The 24-hour curfew slammed on these three Local Governments isn’t anything but a punitive action. How did Zangon Kataf LG even get included? What did they do? Since the Governor said the 24-hour curfew was due to credible security report of the possibility of a further breakdown of order, why didn’t the security also get credible report of impending attacks on our villages all these while?

12. The Governor is aggrieved, nay, very angry that our people are rising up to defend themselves against those who have been attacking them at night. Are our people to just lie down and be killed? Since the State Government has stood aside and watched the Fulanis kill, destroy and vandalize our people, having reneged on its constitutional duties of protecting and safeguarding the lives and properties of the Southern Kaduna people, what options are there than to rise up and defend themselves? No one in his/her right senses will sit by docilely while criminals kill him and his family. That will be tantamount to committing suicide. No! So, Mr. Governor, since you have given “compensation” to your brothers the Southern Kaduna people will not sit down and allow themselves to be killed by your brothers. No amount of threats of arrest will stop our people from defending themselves against murderers and arsonists. If the Governor doesn’t want us to defend ourselves, then he should do the needful.

Finally, I urge the teeming youth to remain calm, focused and law abiding citizens.

God bless Southern Kaduna.
God bless Kaduna State and
God bless Nigeria.
Signed: Comr. Nasiru Jagaba
SOKAPU YOUTH COORDINATOR