Buhari in Kaduna, says recurring killings of people must stop

…Directs security agencies to hunt perpetrators, bring them to justice
…MBF condemns killings, calls for urgent action
President Muhammadu Buhari has said that the recurring killings in Kaduna State must stop and directed security agencies to hunt down the perpetrators of the killings and bring them to justice.

The development came just as the Middle Belt Forum (MBF) said that it was greately disturbed by the violence that has engulfed the state and led to the killings of a royal father and other innocent lives at Kasuwan Magani.

Buhari gave the warning on Tuesday in Kaduna when he went to commiserate with victims of the recent clashes in the state.

He warned that those who were used to going scot-free after such killings, must now answer for their crimes.

The President said, “The Federal Government will take strongest measures possible to punish perpetrators of these crimes. No one will go scot free. We shall now hold everyone to account for these latest killings.”

Buhari, who described the incidents as “unacceptable’’, said Kaduna must not earn itself a new name as “home of violence.’’

“My earnest appeal to all citizens of Kaduna is to do their best to uphold peace in their respective communities,’’ he added.

The president also commended the state government for managing the crisis, and assured that his administration would recruit more security personnel and deploy them nationwide to protect citizens.

He also welcomed the pledge of the state and local governments to support the construction of more police and civil defence offices to enhance security at the grassroots.

The President appealed to all citizens to be law abiding, learn to listen to each other and resolve differences through peaceful means.

He also said that individuals and communities must respect the rights of others to live wherever they chose, worship freely and pursue lawful livelihood anywhere in this country.

Buhari said that the Federal Government was doing its best to develop human capital, tackle poverty and inequality in all parts of the country, as well as provide decent education and health.

While responding to an appeal by Kaduna State Governor Nasiru el-Rufa’i, Buhari pledged to promptly look at the outstanding issue of compensation for victims of the 2011 post election violence in the state.

Governor el-Rufa’i had earlier briefed the president on the security situation in the state and informed him that the state would henceforth enforce the 1915, 1917 and 1958 laws to hold communities where violence occur, fully responsible.

He said that the state government also plans to set up new police and military outposts in Kasuwan Magani, Narayi, Sabon Tasha and other flash points.

The governor appealed for the deployment of 30 additional judges to fast truck justice delivery in the state.

Also, the Emir of Zazzau, Dr. Shehu Idris, commended the prompt action taken by the state government and security agencies to contain the crisis. He urged all citizens to live in peace and shun religious and community leaders as well as individuals pushing them to violence.

Meanwhile, the President of the Middle Belt Forum (MBF), Dr. Bitrus Pogu, has said that from available reports, the hostilities broke out on a Thursday Market Day between native Adara farmers who had taken their farm produce to the market, on the one hand:

and some Hausa – Fulani traders, on the other, following a disagreement between some individuals across the two divides.

According to Pogu, the result of this disagreement led to a fight that saw to the alleged killing of scores of oinnocent and defenseless people.

The MBF president said: The Governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasiru el-Rufai visited Kasuwan Magani ostensibly to commiserate with the victims of the dastardly murder of the citizens but visited only the Hausa – Fulani community and failed or refused to visit the Adara community whose indigenes were massacred.

“On his way from Kaduna on the same Friday, the Agom Adara, Dr. Maiwada Raphael Galadima was abducted together with his wife by unknown gunmen who gunned down his police orderly and three palace guards in the convoy of the monarch as he was returning to Kachia.

“The Governor of Kaduna State, Malam el-Rufai, in the midst of the tension in the land provocatively insisted on referring to the Agom Adara as the Agom Kachia in a broadcast, an appellation alien to that traditional institution

and which the people suspect is calculated to impose non-members of the ethnic Adara community on them as well as appoint chiefs over towns like Kasuwan Magani, Kateri, Kajuru and other towns within the Agom Adara’s domain.

“We demand that President Muhammadu Buhari immediately empanel an Independent Commission of Enquiry to investigate the causes of the unending killings in Kaduna over time, and the alleged show of partiality by the State Government in tackling the internecine crises,

particularly as majority of the people of Southern Kaduna believe that the Governor of Kaduna state has since taken side in the conflict in view of the fact that he had earlier openly confessed to paying a group of foreign Fulani marauders responsible for the killings in Southern Kaduna,” the group added.