The General Overseer of the Intercessory Fellowship Ministry, Sabon Tasha, Kaduna State, Pastor Yohanna Buru, spoke with MUHAMMAD SABIU on the crisis in southern Kaduna and how the crisis can be permanently tackled. Excerpts:
The southern Kaduna crisis has been re-current for the past 35 years. What solution would you proffer?
There is the possibility of a permanent solution. But, we should check our history properly. The people of southern Kaduna do not know that they are in the North-Western part of the country. An average southern Kaduna man believes he is from the Middle Belt. This is so because they have the feeling that the North-West are not carrying them along in their affairs. Apart from that, their ethnic, religious and cultural inclinations are completely differently from the Hausa-Fulani. As a result, these two major contradictions have affected peace in the area. The problem is even more compounded by the fact that the traditionalists, who are the major bone of contention, are neglected or not even recognised.
The major crisis in the area is between the traditionalists and the Fulani herdsmen. The traditionalists are the idol worshippers, who do not believe in God. They feel they own the land. Initially, they had issues with the Christians who they termed as ‘betrayers.’ Now, however, what they are saying is that the herdsmen came with their cattle to desecrate their land and streams. This they feel is unacceptable. How can someone come to mess up their places they see as holy? These are the issues. So, for someone to come and say the southern Kaduna crisis is not religious, that is just trying to be pretentious. It is not about Christians or Muslims. The traditionalists have issues with both the Christians and the Muslims. The Christians know that but, they are not talking. I think they are afraid. This is in spite of the fact that the Nigerian Constitution has given everybody the right to worship anything he believes in. So apart from religion, there is the issue of politics and ethnicity. As such, there is the need for both the federal and state governments to sit down with the people and listen to them with view to correcting the imbalance that I am talking about. I am not comfortable with the government saying they know the perpetrators. If you know those behind the crisis, please arrest and prosecute them. Whoever is involved and found culpable, no matter his/her position in society, should be prosecuted. I feel this would solve some of these issues.
What is your view on the statement credited to Apostle Johnson Suleman as it relates to herdsmen clashes?
Well, I personally do not know Apostle Suleiman. However, I had the privilege of reading ome of his statements described as controversial, as reported by various media and l equally listened to the two versions of the said controversial statement – the edited and the unedited. So, even if he said that, I believe that was his personal opinion. I don’t think Christianity promotes the killing of human beings. Even if it is a personal view, such pronouncements could not be the best, because you don’t end a war with war. We asked our Northern elite if they are unaware of how the North is being turned into a theatre of war. We have seen how Boko Haram ravaged the North-Eastern part of the country; how banditry and cattle rustling are ravaging some parts of the North. So, Christianity is against violence in whatever form. In Hebrew, the Bible teaches us to live in peace with one another, even at a cost. In the scriptural book of Corinthians, it encourages dialogue. We are taught that Christ has come to reconcile us. So, why can’t we imbibe the lessons of Christ? I want to believe, it is his personal opinion not the general opinion as it relates to our belief as Christians.
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