The Middle Belt Forum (MBF) has called on the international community to mount pressure on the Nigerian government to stop the massacre of citizens in the Middle Belt region, especially in Kajuru Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
The MBF national president Dr Bitrus Pogu, who made the call in Abuja, said the manner and frequency of the killings tends toward genocide of the people from the Middle Belt region.
“There is an ongoing genocide across the Middle Belt Region by armed Fulani herdsmen militia as presently ongoing in Adara communities, Southern Kaduna which has been grossly under-reported by local media. This probably explains why the massacres have not caught the attention of international media.”
Accordingly, the forum, called on the “international community to mount pressure on Governor Nasir el-Rufai and other relevant authorities in Nigeria to stop these killings of innocent men, women and children by deploying adequate security personnel to ensure quick restoration of peace to these besieged communities.”
Also, the MBF called on the federal government to set up of a commission of enquiry to probe the circumstances surrounding the abduction and subsequent murder of the Adara Monarch, Dr Maiwada Raphael Galadima.
“We call on the federal government to set up a commission of inquiry to probe the alleged killings of Fulani as alleged by el-Rufai in order to show proof of these killings, as the Adara natives have continued to state their innocence over the governor’s claim which has continued to be the anvil of these senseless massacres.”
The forum said membership of the commission should include forensic experts, security agencies, community and religious leaders, other interest groups, among others, to ascertain the veracity of el-Rufai’s allegation.
“The commission should also investigate the circumstances surrounding the abduction and eventual brutal assassination of the Adara monarch, Dr Galadima. Since the police in November 2018 paraded some suspects behind the killing of the paramount ruler, not a word has been heard on the matter.”
