The Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, on Tuesday, pledged that the Senate, upon resumption, would look into the crises that have led to the loss of lives and properties in the Southern part of Kaduna State, in recent times.
Saraki made this known while responding to the cry of a concerned Nigerian on Twitter on Monday, according to a statement by his Special Assistant on New Media, Bamikole Omishore, in Abuja.
A twitter user, Chimeze Okoro Ukoha, had tweeted: “@Bukolasaraki About 800 Christians massacred in Kaduna and nobody is talking about that. Very Bad.”
In his response, Saraki said: “Once @NGRSenate resumes, this issue will be addressed to get a clearer picture of what the real situation is and find a lasting solution.”
Saraki went further by also tweeting: “Every Nigerian life matters, and @ngrsenate will work to ensure that rule of law is always upheld as prescribed by Nigerian Constitution.”
The killings in Southern Kaduna have continued to generate reactions from various quarters, especially among the masses.
Many have questioned why the killings have continued despite the security measures put in place by the Kaduna State government.
A lot of Nigerians have also appealed to the Federal Government to nip the ugly trend in the bud.
Omishore said the Senate President was in touch with senators from that state and constantly getting updates on developments even though the Senate was on recess.
Meanwhile, following the ongoing conflict witnessed in Southern Kaduna, the Federal Government has warned Nigerians against religious conflict.
It said this following insinuations that the criminal violence in troubled part of Kaduna State has some religious interpretation.
The Minister of the Interior, Abdulrahman Dambazau, who gave the warning in Abuja, on Tuesday, said: “there are people who are always looking for ways to further create division along religious or ethnic lines for their selfish interest, with the aim of creating instability in our internal security.”
According to him, true religious leaders do not fan the embers of hatred, but ensure that communities live in peace and harmony.
He maintained that economic growth and development would remain a mirage for Nigeria; with over 500 ethnic groups and multiple religions, unless the people resolve to live amicably as a people with common destiny.
Speaking further, Dambazau said criminals who perpetrated violence against innocent citizens did not discriminate along religious and ethnic lines, citing examples of how communities in Zamfara, Katsina, Taraba, Enugu, Lagos and Niger states were victimised by those violent criminals.
He noted that a criminal should be treated as such, whether he was involved in armed robbery, drug trafficking, homicides or cattle rustling, and that people should avoid honouring criminals with religious or ethnic attachment.
He advised opinion and religious leaders to refrain from giving the crisis between herdsmen and farmers in Southern Kaduna a religious connotation.
He advised that attention should be focused on the real enemies of the society who illegally acquired weapons to terrorise Christian and Muslim communities alike.
Also, Ondo State governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko, urged the Federal Government to do all within its power to stop the killings going on in Southern Kaduna.
Governor Mimiko, while addressing workers in the state during the traditional first working day prayer, held at the Governor’s office in Akure, on Tuesday, said constant shedding of blood of people as being witnessed in Southern Kaduna at the moment was an unfortunate development which should be arrested immediately.
He said bloodletting, aside its natural negative consequences on the unity of the country, psyche and lives of the people in the affected areas, could also inhibit the progress of a nation and obstruct the prayers of its people.
He thus called on the Federal Government to find a way to restore peace to the area so that shedding of people’s blood could stop.
However, a statement by the Director of Administration, Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Ustaz Isa Okonkwo, demanded thorough investigation into the killings by gunmen suspected to be Fulani herdsmen.
The group 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, 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 marvelous. 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, I don’t think the figure was 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.”