Nasir el-Rufai, governor of
Kaduna state, says his government will not allow “bigoted busy bodies” to
trivalise the killings in the state.
Speaking through Samuel Aruwan,
his media aide, el-Rufai said only irresponsible and insensitive people can
“recklessly” dismiss the deaths of members of a community with whom they have
no contact.
The governor said this in
reaction to the controversy which the casualty figure generated.
Chidi Odinkalu, a human rights
lawyer, had dismissed the death toll of 66 released by the government. The
lawyer said he contacted those in the areas where the killings reportedly
occurred and that most people seem not to have details of the high casualty
figure.
He said it could be possible that
el-Rufai’s statement on the killings had political undertone.
The Christian Association of
Nigeria (CAN) in Kaduna, the Southern Kaduna Peoples Union are also among
groups which have dismissed the casualty fighure.
But in a statement on Sunday, the
government defended the figures it released earlier.
“The Kaduna State Government
notes the concerted and apparently coordinated efforts by bigoted busy bodies
to deny the Kajuru killings, or to minimise the casualty figures, and the
specious arguments being deployed in this despicable quest,” the statement
read.
“Only irresponsible and
insensitive people can recklessly dismiss the deaths of members of a community
with whom they have no contact.
“Private individuals and
unelected actors cannot be allowed to reduce weighty matters of state security
to the province of their limited networks, inexperienced lenses and narrow
agendas.
“The government of a state cannot
be detained by parochial, ethno-religious, partisan or electoral calculations
from doing its duty to provide security, confirm incidents of security
breaches, take steps to reassure affected communities and ensure that
perpetrators are arrested and brought to justice.”
Aruwan also said the governor
visited scenes of the killings on Saturday but did not say whether the places
visited by the governor included both the Fulani and Adara communities affected
in the conflict.
He said key security personnel in
the state briefed the governor on the attacks and gave the casualty figure.
He listed Farouk Yahaya, general
officer, commanding 1 division of the Nigerian army, Kaduna; Ahmad
Abdulrrahman, commissioner of police in the state; A.I Koya, director of State
Security Services (SSS) in Kaduna; and I Sani, a commodore of the Nigerian air
force, among those who accomaonied the governor.
“Gen. Yahaya briefed the governor
on the recovery of 66 corpses by soldiers in the Maro and Iri axis of Kajuru
local government,” the statement read.
“The General conducted the
governor around the scenes of the crime which were littered with the burnt
wrecks of buildings and dead animals.
“Police Commissioner Ahmad
Abdurrahman confirmed that some arrests had been made in connection with the
incident and that the suspects will be charged to court as soon as
investigations are completed.
“Before visiting the scene of the
killings, the governor, accompanied by the security chiefs, stopped in Kasuwan
Magani for a meeting with village heads and community leaders from Kajuru LGA.”
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com