Muslim group condemns Kaduna killings

THE Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs has condemned the killings in southern Kaduna.
In a statement by its Director of Administration, Ustaz Okonkwo, the group demanded thorough investigation into the killings by gunmen suspected to be Fulani herdsmen.
NSCIA noted that no fewer than 808 lives had been lost in the violence while 57 others had suffered life-threatening injuries.
The council called on the Federal Government to investigate the killings and prosecute those responsible for the acts.
It said, “The Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, under the leadership of its President-General and Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence, Alhaji Saad Abubakar, hereby condemns in totality the unjust, heinous and dastard acts of destruction of lives and properties currently going on in Southern Kaduna.”
“The NSCIA denounces these events in its entirety particularly because they run contrary to fundamental Islamic law, which ordains human life to be sacred and strongly forbids its unlawful destruction except for a just cause.
“The NSCIA therefore calls on the Federal and Kaduna State governments to, as a matter of urgency, step into the situation and put a stop to this inhuman and barbarous state of anomie
“The NSCIA will like the Federal and Kaduna State governments to go a step further by proffering lasting solutions to these recurrent acts of hatefulness and savagery in Southern Kaduna.
“We also wish to call on the Federal Government to objectively investigate the matter and prosecute whoever that is found guilty irrespective of the person’s tribe, creed and/or social status.
“We enjoin all Nigerians not to allow themselves to be used by forces of evil, some of which may hide behind tribal, political or even religious garbs in order to perpetrate these heinous acts.”
Meanwhile, the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, has faulted the leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria for saying over 808 lives had been lost in killings in Southern Kaduna.
He described the report as sickening, stressing that religious, community and political leaders must be patriotic in their endeavours for peace to reign in the country.
Idris, who disputed the casualty figure on Sunday in Abuja at a dinner for the Deputy Inspectors-General of Police and other IG secretariat staff, insisted that the claim was false.
Idris said, “I visited all the villages and what I saw was marvellous. I found policemen in the hinterlands and they were at alert. Some alleged that they saw about 800 corpses and I must say that the report is sickening and when someone from outside reads such report, they will think something is wrong with this country.
“How can somebody say he saw 800 corpses in Kaduna? Even in Rwanda, where there was genocide, the figure was not that high. It is important for us to remember that this country belongs to all of us, irrespective of our status.
“People should take leadership as a responsibility and I have always said it that what the Americans don’t lack is patriotism and we, as Nigerians, should also learn to love ourselves.”