NAS calls on FG, Kaduna state govt to end Southern Kaduna killings

National President of National Association of Seadogs (NAS), Mr. Arthur Boje, has called on the Federal Government and the Kaduna state governor, Malam Nasir el-Rufai, to initiate meaningful dialogue and negotiations with stakeholders to end the killings in Southern Kaduna.

The association, in a statement in Calabar, said that it has become imperative for the federal government and Governor el-Rufai to urgently intervene to put an end to the raging violence in Kaduna and stressed that both governments should take immediate as well as medium-term measures to halt the killings and restore normalcy in the affected communities.

The statement read in part, “the National Association of Seadogs recognises that the Federal and Kaduna governments have since jettisoned their initial lack of urgency and intensified efforts to end the violence, including fast-tracking plans to site two military barracks in the area to provide a ready-made force to halt the persistent midnight raids.

“It is imperative that both governments take immediate as well as medium-term measures to halt the killings and restore normalcy in the affected communities. Quite apart from any immediate and medium-term measures that may be adopted, NAS believes it is important to find a lasting solution to the carnage in southern Kaduna.

“This would require both the Federal Government and the Kaduna State Government to take a wide variety of steps towards restoring enduring peace to the area. These steps should include embarking on dialogue and negotiations with various stakeholders, such as the people, the community leaders, traditional rulers, religious leaders and political class, among others.”

The group cautioned politicians to resist the temptation of politicising the ongoing violence in order to avoid escalation and create further instability in the country. According to the group, it is extremely important that justice is generally seen to be done, adding that perpetrators of the recent and ongoing violence were held accountable.
“Hence, the government should apprehend, prosecute and if successful penalize the perpetrators of these atrocious crimes because, as long as these crimes go without punishment, these crimes of wanton impunity and barbarism are likely to continue in the future,” it noted.