Understanding the Southern Kaduna crisis

By the time you are reading this piece, three local governments in southern Kaduna are being placed under curfew. The curfew became necessary due to heighten tension and to avert loss of lives and properties as stated by the executive governor of the state, Malam Nasiru El-Rufa’i. The southern Kaduna communities have been experiencing incessant […]

By the time you are reading this piece, three local governments in southern Kaduna are being placed under curfew. The curfew became necessary due to heighten tension and to avert loss of lives and properties as stated by the executive governor of the state, Malam Nasiru El-Rufa’i. The southern Kaduna communities have been experiencing incessant and violent attacks by the suspected Fulani herdsmen. Although the rampant attacks could be described as a reprisal by the Fulani nomads who suffered heavy losses during the post-election violence in 2011, the area has had history of unrest ranging from communal, ethnic and religion. Notably among them are: Kasuwan Magani in the then Kachia local government in 1981, Kafanchan in 1987, 1996 and 1999, Zangon Kataf 1992, post-election violence 2011 to mention but a few. These series of upheavals have led to the death of many innocent lives while properties worth billions of naira destroyed.

The nagging question begging for answers are: why all these crises? What are the motives of these evils darkness? To understand the recurring crises that defied any lasting solution in the zone for the past four decades, one needs to understand the complexities of the area, in terms of religion and ethnicity. 

Southern Kaduna is a predominantly Christian area with a sizeable Muslim minority including various ethnic groups with diverse cultural and historical background. 

Alongside these peculiarities, the area has continued to experience incessant crises. It was believed to have been fueled by bigotry, religious intolerance and deep-seated historical animosity festered by current herdsmen/farmers clashes and indigene versus settlers eccentricities. These issues have been squarely addressed in chapter 4 of the 1999 constitution which guarantees freedom of worship and movement. On the indigene versus settler’s issue, we are all living in denial because every Nigerian is a settler. People who still harbour this parochial and narrow minded thinking should go back to history.

The crisis would have taken a dangerous dimension had government not hurriedly intervened. Though the Fulani herdsmen have been identified as the aggressors in this latest episode, the southern Kaduna communities were also guilty of revenge killings against innocent Hausa or Muslim travellers who are plying the region’s highways. While some elites in the state are not helping matters through their unguarded utterances, the government should explore any method possible to ensure the return of peace and harmony in the area.

Ibrahim Mustapha Pambegua, Kaduna State.