Why Kajuru keeps erupting in crisis
In July 2017, not less than 32 persons lost their lives in a tit-for-tat attack that followed an alleged assault on a Fulani youth and subsequent killing of his father by some youths in Kajuru, Kaduna State. There was complete breakdown of law and order for several hours when some Fulani youths went to a […]
In July 2017, not less than 32 persons lost their lives in a tit-for-tat attack that followed an alleged assault on a Fulani youth and subsequent killing of his father by some youths in Kajuru, Kaduna State.
There was complete breakdown of law and order for several hours when some Fulani youths went to a village at Ungwan Uka to avenge the killing of the herdsman said to have been attacked and killed some days back by some Adara youths in a farm at Banono village.
Several houses were burnt and many fled the villages, in addition to the high number of people that lost their lives.
The crisis became so serious that a Federal Government delegation, led by the Minister of Interior, General Abdulrahman Danbazzau (retired) had to come down to Kaduna to visit the community to complement the efforts of the state government in assessing the damages and finding solutions to it. Since then, the crisis in Kajuru abated, only for the communities in the local government to explode in another similar crisis early February this year.
Between the last crisis and the current one, however, there have been pockets of crisis in the neighbouring Kasuwan Magani community in Chikun Local Government Area of the state. It spread to communities in Kajuru, up to Kaduna south and north, resulting in the imposition of curfew in the affected local government areas.
The most recent crisis had a similar undertone with the previous one. Eleven Adara natives were said to have been killed at Ungwan Barde village, and a day later, an attack was launched by suspected Adara youths on eight Fulani settlements of Ruga Bahago, Ruga Daku, Ruga Ori, Ruga Haruna, Ruga Yukka Abubakar, Ruga Duni Kadiri, Ruga Shewuka and Ruga Shuaibu Yau, where over 66 persons were said to have been killed.
Delayed reports of the attack and how they became public led to serious controversies, and before the issues could be laid to rest, another attack occurred at Karmai, a community between Kajuru and Kachia local government areas, where the Fulani were said to have launched a counter attack to avenge the killing of the 66, resulting in the killing of about 29 persons.
Our correspondent notes that anytime such attacks occur, the state government usually deploys security agencies to the area while condemning the attacks and commiserating with the families of the victims. Most times, it also urges the community, traditional and religious leaders in the area to encourage residents to avoid reprisal attacks and leave the matter in the hands of the security and law enforcement agencies, while assuring that they are being investigated.
When the recent attack occurred, Governor Nasir el-Rufai was accompanied by Major-General Faruk Yahaya, GOC 1 Division of the Nigerian Army, Air Commodore I. Sani of the Nigerian Air Force, Police Commissioner Ahmad Abdurrahman and the state director of the Department of State Service (DSS), A.I. Koya.
But many have wondered the frequency of such attacks in recent times.
Within the month of February alone, there have been three attacks, with a casualty rate of not less than 106 as a whole. Properties were also destroyed.
Many commentators have blamed the recurrence of violence on sundry factors, mainly the inability to apprehend the sponsors of the crisis, alleged bias on the part of the government and the perceived sense of injustice.
A coalition of five Fulani organisations, which included the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore Fulani Socio-cultural Association, Mobgal Fulbe Development Association (MOFDA), Gan Allah Fulani Development Association (GAFDAN) and Fulani Global Development Initiative, attribute the crises to what it called the politicisation of the killings and downplaying the number of casualties.
The coalition stated at a press conference in Kaduna that there’s a lot of cover-up whenever their people are killed.
“In the light of the foregoing, we demand the setting up of an independent panel of investigation by federal and Kaduna State governments, to unravel the mystery of missing bodies hidden or burnt to ashes in the affected areas.
“The security agencies need to commence the process of detailed documentation of the violence, including the collection of exhibits and all relevant information to isolate the perpetrators of the violence, arrest and prosecute them for genocide as their action was the total extermination of the families,’’ the groups stated.
The Adara Development Association, however, condemned the handling of such crises by the government, saying it has reasons to believe the state government is taking sides.
Speaking on behalf of the association, Luke Godwin Waziri, a lawyer, accused the state government of trying to balkanise their people.
“On Friday, February 15, 2019, on the eve of what would have been our national elections, we watched with shock, the governor granting an interview that 66 people were allegedly killed in Kajuru, Kaduna State. The governor went ahead to list the number of villages that were attacked, but deliberately excluded Ungwan Barde, where our people were killed,” he said.
The media too has not been spared of allegations of adding to the crisis.
The Muslim Youth Foundation of Southern Kaduna (MYFOSKA), the youth wing of Southern Kaduna Muslims Ummah Development Association (SOKAMUDA), on its part, said the perceived lack of justice for the victims fuelled the crises.
The national chairman of the group, Muhammad K. Bello, said perpetrators of the killings must be brought to book to serve as deterrent to others.
He said, “The entire Muslim Ummah in Southern Kaduna is worried with the rising number of gruesome and unwarranted murder of members of its communities across various local communities in parts of the state, especially the Southern Kaduna area, evidently planned and carefully executed in a genocide-like manner.
“Unfortunately, while SOKAPU has been trying to politicise the unwarranted killings, it is an attempt to divert the attention of the world from these facts by trying to accuse the governor, whose political focus has always been countered by SOKAPU and its supporters.”
He demanded that the unalienable and constitutional rights of people to live and vote during and after the elections be upheld, saying, “Certainly, if care is not taken and fast, such carnage would not end because criminals do not face justice.”
But the Southern Kaduna People’s Union (SOKAPU) insisted they had reasons to accuse the government of bias.
The SOKAPU said one of the ways out is for the Inspector General of Police and the director of the DSS to carry out an independent investigation on what actually transpired in Kajuru.
The national public relations officer of the SOKAPU, Yakubu Kuzamani said, “The SOKAPU has reached out to the various community leaders in Kajuru, including officials of the Adara nation to ascertain what actually happened.’’
The chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Rev Joseph Hayab, said the state government should be held responsible in case of any crisis in the state.
“The incidence of raising false alarm by the Kaduna State Government should make Nigerians realise that some of our leaders are also guilty of hate speech, and that makes them major actors in the game that have denied us peace and have claimed the lives of our loved ones.
But Samuel Aruwan, the spokesman of Governor el-Rufai defended the role of the government in handling the crises, saying, “Only irresponsible and insensitive people can recklessly dismiss the deaths of members of a community with whom they have no contact.
He said, “Private individuals and unelected actors cannot be allowed to reduce weighty matters of state security to the province of their limited networks, inexperienced lenses and narrow agendas.”
Our correspondent observed that after an attack and the ensuing tension, the people will revert to living together peacefully again for a long time and would resume business as if nothing of the sort happened, until another incident stirs them into running away from one another.