Senator representing Southern Kaduna senatorial district, Dr. Danjuma La’ah, has passionately appealed to the federal government to mount pressure on the state governor, Nasiru Ahmed El-Rufai, to produce those behind the killing of innocent Nigerians in the district.
In a statement he issued to newsmen on Wednesday, the Senator asserted that Governor El-Rufai has been able to identify the killers and their locations.
He added, “This will lead to their sponsors in Nigeria and other places. Nigeria should then use its diplomatic relationship and extradite these murderers of its citizens, plunders and arsonists to face justice in Nigeria.
“After governor El-Rufai’s term in office, it should be possible to prosecute him for being an accessory to mass murder, since he has refused to reveal these findings to the rightful authority for actions to stop the evil that is spreading to many states today.
“This is from the outcome of Newspapers’ and online captions quoting governor El -Rufai as saying that he has had to trace some of the murderous Fulani herdsmen that have been killing defenceless innocent Southern Kaduna natives and destroying their villages, the news sources said that after tracing them, he told them that he was also a Fulani man and paid them sums of money to stop the massacre, burning and tearing down of scores of communities in Southern Kaduna.
“That not done with, the governor also uttered a very bizarre threat that he has compiled for arrest and prosecution, names of persons asking the people of Southern Kaduna to defend themselves against the obvious inability of the Chief Security Officer of the state – Governor Nasir El-Rufai – to secure their lives and property and save them the trauma of being under perpetual fear of further unprovoked violence.
“Knowing how swiftly he reacts to any untoward issue unfairly thrown at him in the media, I have waited for days to hear or read a rebuttal from him but to no avail.
“This therefore confirms these unfortunate utterances as truly that of the governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai.
“I wish to state that these statements are not only unfortunate, callous, insensitive, crude and demeaning of his office and intelligence, it throws him up as a bigot and hatter of Southern Kaduna and we are holding him as an accomplice in the ongoing genocide in Southern Kaduna.”
Senator La’ah said, according to the Leadership Newspaper of 4th December, 2016 under the headline: “Foreigners Behind Southern Kaduna Massacre – El-Rufai, stated that the governor said that some of them (Killer Fulani) were from Niger, Cameroon, Chad, Mali and Senegal, adding, “Many of these people were killed, cattle lost and they organised themselves and came back to revenge.
“We got a group of people that were going round, trying to trace some of these people in Cameroon, Niger Republic and so on to tell them that there is a new governor who is Fulani like them and has no problem paying compensations for lives lost and he is begging you to stop the killing.
“In most of the communities, once that appeal was made to them, they said they have forgiven. There are one or two that asked for monetary compensation. They said they have forgiven the death of human beings, but want compensation for cattle. We said no problem, some we paid.”
Senator La’ah maintained that there was never in a time in 2011 that Fulani from Mali, Niger, Chad, Cameroon, Mali and Senegal were killed in Southern Kaduna with their cattle.?
He added, “This is a silly and an absurd lie. Southern Kaduna is not a junction of these countries. So how could they have all converged on Southern Kaduna on their usual migration back home?
“The Governor just invented this lie to make excuse for his imported murderous Fulani kindred to continue their extermination of our people and the occupation of our lands.
“As the main political leader and representative of Southern Kaduna at the Federal level, despite many overtures of trying to meet with the governor over the insecurity in my zone with no success, he has never deem it fit to inform me of these actions so as to seek my views and that of my constituency over the matter.
“This is a very curious development, especially as I was able to make the Senate to pass a resolution asking the Federal Government to declare a State of Emergency on Security in Southern Kaduna last month.
“I expected him to cash on that, using his connection with the President and Commander-in-Chief. But, he was obviously not concerned.
“In the light of the above, the Federal Government, especially the Nigeria Intelligence Agency, NIA, the Directorate of State Services, SSS, the Directorate of Military Intelligence, DMI and sundry agencies should look no further for the solution to the unrelenting killings in Southern Kaduna.
“Governor Nasir el-Rufai should also state how much of Kaduna State scarce resources have been moved to these killers and whether he has the authority of the law to so spend the money on enemies of Southern Kaduna and Nigeria.
“El-Rufai should also be investigated to find out if these moneys were not further put into the buying of more arms and the recruitments of more killers, who we strongly believe, are also jihadists.
“Though he has ferried much undisclosed amounts of money to murderers, I am pleading with Kaduna State indigenes and residents to ask why he has stubbornly refused to render basic assistance of rebuilding of even a home, or any form of monetary assistance to the surviving victims in Southern Kaduna. Most are still left without food and shelter despite the modest assistance that some of us, churches, NGOs etc have continued to render from time to time.
“I am constrain to add that Nasir el-Rufai with his lack of will to show commitment to the insecurity in Southern Kaduna, and his resolve to carry on with over six Cattle Grazing Reserves in Southern Kaduna, he is actually creating new, permanent “conquered” settlements for his Fulani kinsmen.
“I said this because his Fulani brothers have killed people and chased them out from their communities and are now fully settled with their families and cattle in several villages in Kaura, Sanga and Jema’a Local Government Areas, while the governor turns his eyes the other way round.”
The statement therefore called on the people of Southern Kaduna to use every available legitimate means to defend their lives, properties and communities.
It reads, “History will not forgive our generation if we succumb to threats and blackmail and fail to defend ourselves and get wiped out. As Senator of the beleaguered area, l cannot support that we become sitting ducks each time they come killing. Again, if El-Rufai will not defend us, let us defend ourselves.”
