The crises in Southern Kaduna
The incessant crises rocking Southern Kaduna State especially with last weekend’s killings in Goska village, few kilometres away from Kafanchan, Jema’a local government by suspected Fulani herdsmen despite the heavy presence of security forces and under a 24-hour curfew is indeed worrisome and condemnable. The attack is one too many of such incidents in recent […]
The incessant crises rocking Southern Kaduna State especially with last weekend’s killings in Goska village, few kilometres away from Kafanchan, Jema’a local government by suspected Fulani herdsmen despite the heavy presence of security forces and under a 24-hour curfew is indeed worrisome and condemnable. The attack is one too many of such incidents in recent times. It is part of a tit-for-tat ethno-religious battle that has been waged for decades, has consumed thousands of lives and has destroyed the livelihoods of tens of thousands more.
The attacks by suspected Fulani herdsmen in Southern Kaduna villages at night have been going on and off over the last five years. They have their roots in the violence that followed the 2011 presidential and governorship election in some Northern states in which the herdsmen were massively affected. Reports say that Fulani herdsmen passing through Southern Kaduna were attacked with some of them killed and their cattle stolen. While the suspected herdsmen’s attacks are thought to be reprisal attacks from 2011, southern Kaduna’s communities have also been accused of reprisal attacks against the region’s Hausa and Muslim communities, including killing travellers on highways.
However, the recent crisis sparked off last week Tuesday when the Kaduna State Government banned processions in Jema’a local government after a demonstration by enraged youths over the incessant killings went violent. The youths invaded the residence of Jema’a local government’s Interim Management Committee Chairman Dr Katuka Bege and completely burnt the house. They accused him and the state government of not doing enough to stop the killings. Governor Nasiru El-Rufa’i then went to Kafanchan the following day to hold a state security council meeting to drive a peace initiative. Some women came out half naked protesting and youths burnt properties and then attacked the governor’s convoy with stones and other weapons.
The crisis predates Malam Nasir el-Rufa’i’s administration so he cannot be accused of causing it or of being behind it as some people are insinuating. However, some of his recent utterances have exacerbated the problem. Even though the statements were made in the name of openness and forthrightness, they were badly misinterpreted and given a colouration that portrayed the governor in bad light in the eyes of a section of the community.
El-Rufa’i said for example that when he became governor, he traced some aggrieved Fulani herdsmen to Niger Republic and Cameroon, and paid them compensation as a way of stopping them from reprisal attacks. Many have accused the governor of appeasing a group of foreign killers of his own people. The problem is that the attacks and counter attacks continued despite those efforts at appeasement, even though no side in the sectional carnage is free of blame in this matter.
On the other hand, it is not unusual that some religious and political elite in the region have deliberately fanned the embers of ethno-religious crisis in Kaduna State by dividing the people along religious and ethnic lines, especially deploying “indigenous” and “settler” rhetoric. Sadly enough, almost everybody acted wrongly. A serving senator, Danjuma La’ah representing Southern Kaduna senatorial district was quoted at the heat of the crisis of absurdly urging his constituents to take the law into their hands.
We vehemently condemn the killings in the region and urge Governor El-Rufa’i to initiate a peace process that will engender dialogue and true reconciliation. We believe dialogue and negotiation can lead us to a peaceful resolution of these issues. We are also aware that enormous resources are being deployed by the government to tackle the issue of insecurity in Kaduna. However, we urge that the government should engage community leaders and elder statesmen across religious and ethnic divide in the region to build consensus. The solution to the crisis requires wisdom.
Finally, what is happening in Plateau State today offers a poignant lesson. Between year 2000 and 2013 the state witnessed a senseless orgy of ethno-religious violence that sent thousands of people to their early graves but today, the warring parties have found that they must live with one another and have sheathed their swords and given peace a chance.