By AbdulRaheem Aodu
Kaduna
Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna state yesterday held a closed door meeting with Fulani leaders, traditional rulers and heads of security agencies in Southern Kaduna in a bid to find immediate and lasting solutions to the killings and reprisal attacks that have ravaged parts of Southern Kaduna in the last few months.
The meeting, which held at Sir Kashim Ibrahim House, was attended by chairmen of interim management committee of the affected local government areas, the area commander of Nigerian Police, Kafanchan Area Command, all Divisional Police Officers, traditional rulers and ardos of Fulani communities in the area.
According to sources, there were frank discussions between the Fulani and Southern Kaduna people, who are the aggrieved ethnic groups in an attempt to find lasting solutions to the security challenges in the region.
El-Rufai, who chaired the meeting, expressed displeasure over the spate of killings in the region, noting that government will not allow people take law into their own hands and kill innocent citizens.
He said the recent attacks in Godogodo axis would not be condoned any further, while directing all divisional police officers and traditional rulers in the affected areas to fish out perpetrators of the killings within two weeks.
He said: “We have studied reports of all committees and commissions of inquiries set up from 1980 to the time we came into power. Kaduna has experienced 12 religious and ethnic conflicts. Those responsible for the crisis always use religious or ethnic differences to fan the embers of these crises, but we know that illiteracy and poverty are the root cause of the insecurity we have been experiencing.
“There is no way we will brand some people in Nigeria as settlers who don’t have the rights to live in any part of the country. We are all Nigerians and God knows why he made all of us to be Nigerians. He is the one who created us to belong to different faith or religion.”
Deputy Governor Barnabas Yusuf Bala said what” is happening in Southern Kaduna is capable of scaring investors away thereby truncating the good plans of government to develop the region and create job opportunities.”
