Stop killings in Southern Kaduna, bring perpetrators to book, SMBLF tells Buhari

The Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum (SMBLF) has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately stop the latest wave of killings in Southern Kaduna in which a total of 63 people were reported dead, saying it was quite worrisome that the orgy of killings had continued in spite of the curfew imposed by the state government.

The Forum, which said it was outraged by the sad development, demanded that the Buhari government should stop making statements seeming to justify the killings and deceive the world about the situation in the area, pointing out that only bloody-minded people would refuse to heed this advice now.

SMBLF made this call, on Sunday, in a joint statement titled: “Stop Killings in Southern Kaduna Now!”
and signed by Mr Yinka Odumakin for South-West, Chief Guy Ikokwu (South-East), Senator Bassey Henshaw (South-South) and Dr Isuwa Dogo/(Middle-Belt).

The leaders, while describing the recent wave of killings as worrisome, noted that there had been reports of killings, in the past weeks, especially in the southern part of Kaduna State with the most recent massacres at Kukum Daji and Gora Gan put at 33 deaths.

According to them, this was aside from the scores of those who are in hospitals receiving treatment from various degrees of gunshots, but lamented that the Buhari-led government, instead of stepping in to find a lasting solution in the midst of tardiness by the state government, had unfortunately resorted to issuing provocative statements.

“The Southern and Middle Belt Forum(SMBLF) is outraged by the latest wave of killings in Southern Kaduna in which SOKAPU has claimed the death of 63 people. It is quite worrisome that the orgy of killings has continued in spite of the curfew imposed by the state government.

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“In the past weeks, there have been reports of killings, especially in the southern part of Kaduna state with the most recent massacres at Kukum Daji and Gora Gan put at 33 deaths, aside from the scores who are in hospitals receiving treatment from various degrees of gunshots.

“However, instead of the Buhari led Federal Government of Nigeria stepping in to find a lasting solution in the midst of tardiness by the state government it is unfortunate that it has resorted to provocative statements,” SMBLF said.

The group said one of such claims, which it described as annoying and credited to Malam Garba Shehu, the Senior Special Assistant, Media and Publicity, to the President, on the 21st July 2020, was to say that “the problem in Southern Kaduna is an evil combination of politically-motivated banditry, revenge killings and mutual violence by criminal gangs acting on ethnic and religious grounds.”

According to SMBLF, Garba further added to the confusion by misinforming the Nigerian and the international communities that “Southern Kaduna enjoys comprehensive security deployments, including the Army, Special Forces of both the Army and the Air Force, surveillance aircraft by the Air Force and mobile police units that are on the ground on a 24-hour basis to forestall criminality and keep the peace.”

The leaders said those statements were irresponsible coming from the government in the midst of daily killings being counted by the people of Southern Kaduna in the hands of alleged Fulani marauders, calling on the Buhari government to immediately put a stop to the carnage and bring those behind it to book and stop making statements seeming to justify the killings and deceive the world about the situation in the area.

“These are not responsible statements from any government in the midst of body bags daily being counted by the people of Southern Kaduna in the hands of alleged Fulani marauders.

“We, therefore, call on the Buhari government to immediately stop the killings bring the perpetrators to book and stop making statements seeming to justify the killings and deceive the world about the situation in the area. Only bloody-minded people will refuse to heed this advice now,” the statement said.

NIGERIAN TRIBUNE