When the cerebral Y. Adebowale was interviewed on Resilience Television; he was too grief-stricken. Instead he volunteered the following report: “Tales out of Kaduna State hear-wrenching”
Tales out of Kaduna State are heart-wrenching. This state has become a killing field, with the El-Rufai-led government and security agents hardly showing any seriousness about ending the carnage.
Photos and videos of these killings are traumatising. I could not sleep for days after being exposed to the story of how a lawyer with the state’s Ministry of Justice, Haro Gandu was slaughtered, while his wife and son were abducted from their residence in Chikun Local Government Area of the state.
The gunmen broke into their home in the night and slaughtered him. It is the same narrative of ruthless killings virtually everywhere in Kaduna State, with Fulani militias invading communities, breaking into homes, killing, raping and abducting people. From Zango-Kataf to Kajuru, Kaura and Chikun local governments, the story is the same, with the killers still roaming freely.
The butcheries in Southern Kaduna are more pathetic, with so many communities flowing with blood of the innocent. The killings here have been going on for years, but were intensified under the El-Rufai government.
The last five years have been harrowing for the people of this area, with hundreds of their loved ones mauled to death. Women and children have not been spared. It’s a war between the natives and Fulani militias. This is the truth that must be told. Unfortunately, Governor El-Rufai and security agents have been compromised.
We have since moved forward from sharing intelligence to arresting culprits and handing them to relevant departments for prosecutions
Even with the so-called curfew imposed in two of the local government areas, killers still slip in with ease and murder people. It is so sad. This governor and security agents need to take dispassionate actions to curtail killings in Southern Kaduna in particular and the entire state in general.
It was depressing listening to the Commander of Operation Safe Haven in Kaduna, Chukweuemeka Okonkwo, admitting that he has limited manpower to tackle the Southern Kaduna killings. Security agents must be proactive.
They often wait for killing to happen before rushing to the area after the damage has been done. I suspect this is deliberate.
Governor El-Rufai’s response to attacks by Fulani militias in the state is always predictable.
He visits the community, laments the incessant killings and vows to tame the killers. The story ends there until there is another attack and he would repeat the same swagger.
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The killers are hardly apprehended. Back in March, he told a bewildered nation that the bandits had been wiped out by security agents. It is a subterfuge. It never happened. This governor has to go beyond swaggering to end the killings in his state. Above all, he has to be impartial, if he truly wants results.”
On 1st August, 2020 “Saturday Punch” newspaper carried the following headlines in big bold capitals on its front page: (i) “MY FATHER WAS STONED, BURNT TO DEATH” – son of slain Akwa Ibom village head (ii) “Ten killed in Lagos boat accident, three missing” – Police
(iii) “Sallah: Muslims shun social distancing in Katsina, Bauchi, others, Bauchi”
(iv) “Senate probes fresh multi-billion naira fraud in NDDC.”
As for “The Guardian” newspaper of August 1, 2020, the front page screamed with the following headline: “Hope fades as Kaduna killings continue”
· Indigenes Allege Government Support For Ethnic Cleansing Agenda
· Genocide Narrative Untrue – Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of
Nigeria (MACBAN)
· Recurring killings fallout of Zagon Kataf crisis
Resilience Television interrupted its prime time programme of classical cartoons in order to air as “BREAKING NEWS” the front page report of “The Nation” newspaper on June 12, 2020.
Headline: “BOKO HARAM’S SUPPLIER ARRESTED IN BORNO”
“A top Boko Haram logistics supplier has been arrested in Borno State by men of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).
The state NSCDC commandant, Mr. Ibrahim Abdullahi, while parading Bakura Ibrahim, 35, yesterday in Maiduguri, said he was arrested with a car filled with fuel and food products.
Abdullahi said Ibrahim was arrested on June 6 in Maiduguri with “24 Jerry cans of petrol, seven cartons of traditional medicine, 10 bags of fishing hooks and nets, and sex enhancement drugs”.
The NSCDC chief said the arrest was made possible with the collaboration of other security agencies.
“We have since moved forward from sharing intelligence to arresting culprits and handing them to relevant departments for prosecutions”.
He added that his men have arrested three top Boko Haram terrorists and handed them over to the military this year.”
As it was the twenty-seventh anniversary of the 1993 presidential election won by the late Bashorun M.K.O. Abiola on the platform of Social Democratic Party (SDP), the day was being celebrated as “Democracy Day” (the day Nigeria voted to end military rule and embrace democracy), a moving poem was read on Resilience Television by Latifu Kolawole Abiola, son of the departed chief.
“THE DAY WE SPOKE AS ONE”
“It was a day like we had never seen before
We left our homes to cast our votes
Leaving behind all the things that divide us
We all spoke as one
Filled with Hope.
Our Hope was raised
Our Hope was dashed
Our Hope was trampled and caged
Taking with it our Messenger of Hope
Turning our dream to a nightmare.
And when we thought our Hope was forever gone
Our land retraces its steps
And the people in gratitude
Give Hope a new life.
We’ll always remember that day in June
When we spoke as one
Filled with Hope for a greater tomorrow
We remember those who fought for this day
Those who stood for it
Those who stood against it
Those who paid with their lives
Those who never gave up
Those who were too young to know
And those who came much later
Wondering what it’s all about
We also give thanks
To Mr. President Muhammadu Buhari
To the people and friends of Nigeria
To those who believe in the promise of this land
In 1993, we proved that a nation can only change
Through the power of its people
Whatever our nation may be facing today
That power is still with all of us.
