Kaduna attack: Police deploy 2 more mobile police units

The Kaduna State police command, on Tuesday, said it had deployed two additional units of mobile police personnel to restore peace in Godogodo.

According to the NAN, Usman said policemen were also deployed to Kafanchan and environs to forestall any reprisal attack.

He said the Commissioner of Police in the state, Sanusi Lemu, had undertaken an assessment tour of the area.

“The CP also accompanied the Kaduna State deputy governor to pay condolence visits to relatives of the deceased and the chiefdom.”

He said  the visit was part of efforts to boost the morale of police personnel deployed to enhance security of lives and property.

Usman said the Area Commander, Kafanchan, ACP John Yusuf, has initiated dialogue with various stakeholders involved in the conflict, to find lasting solution to the crisis.

“The dialogue session is intended to serve as alternative means of resolving the problem,” the police spokesman said.

A reported that the 24-four hour curfew imposed on October 16 in the area had been relaxed.

The crisis, which has been on for over a month, had led to the death of several people and destruction of properties in Godogodo chiefdom, Jema’a Local Government Area of the state.

Meanwhile, schools and business premises have remained closed in Kafanchan, Kaduna State, despite relaxation of the 24-hour curfew imposed on the town.

The authority of Jema’a Local Government Area of Kaduna State, on Sunday, relaxed the 24-hour curfew imposed on Kafanchan to curtail the killings and destruction of properties in Godogodo area of the town.

A correspondent of the NAN, who monitored the situation on Tuesday, reported that schools, business premises, including banks, were still under lock and key.

Some residents of the town, who commented on the situation, attributed the continued closure of schools and business premises to communication gap with the authority of the local council.

In a related development, a member of the House of representatives, representing Zangon Kataf /Jaba Federal Constituency of Kaduna State,  Mr  Sunday Mashall Katung, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to declare a state of emergency in the area.

Katung advised that a total war on the killer herdsmen who had,  in the last couple of months, continued with their unprovoked attacks on the agrarian and peace-loving people of Southern Kaduna, in Kaduna State was necessary to end the crisis.

The member asked the president to invoke the constitutional provision in Section 14(2)(b), which stated that “the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose.”

He also suggested that the Federal Government should establish a military formation in Jema’a Local Government with the  aim of stopping the invasion of terrorists  into “our helpless communities.”

Katung, in a statement, warned that if the Federal government failed to act, the people would be left with no option than to resort to self-help which would further exacerbate an already-inflamed situation.

“Southern Kaduna people will no longer tolerate this deliberate plans to annihilate its defenceless people with both the federal and state governments doing  next to nothing.

“Enough of these killings. Our communities have concurrently been attacked aggressively, claiming innocent lives, mostly women and children, crops worth millions of Naira have been destroyed by herdsmen and a number of houses have been burnt down. This scorched -earth policy must be brought to an end with immediate effect and we demand that all those found culpable be arraigned before the courts in the spirit of justice and equity,” he said.

Both the state and federal governments ought to upgrade their intelligence gathering mechanism to forestall recurrence of these incessant attacks.