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| Governor Nasir El-Rufai |
According to El-Rufai, “like an unwanted virus, the violence has spread to and has necessitated extraordinary measures in four local government areas in southern Kaduna.”
He stated this during an address at a security meeting held at the Council Chambers of Sir Kashim Ibrahim House, Kaduna.
He insisted his administration had done everything within its constitutional powers to bring peace to Southern Kaduna and all parts of the state.
“We answered the decade old demand for a permanent military base by working with the Federal Government to deploy a forward operating base of the Nigerian Army in Kafanchan.
“Our government purchased an estate to provide accommodation for a permanent mobile police squadron in the area. Also deployed in the area are troops from Operation Safe Haven and Nigerian Army Special Forces, complemented by two mobile police squadrons,” El-Rufai said.
El Rufai also warned that “no one should be allowed to get away with crime just because they can hide it under an ethno-religious veneer.”
Meanwhile, the Southern Kaduna Elders Forum (SOKAF), led by a former military governor of Rivers state, Zamani Lekwot, had said it could not continue to sit and fold its arms in the face of continued violence that “portends a bleak future for generations yet unborn”.
The elders urged Buhari to call Nasir el-Rufai, the governor, to order.
“Southern Kaduna has been in the eye of the storm over the incessant attacks and massive destruction of lives and property in the past few weeks,” the statement read.
“As elders of the area and indeed Kaduna state, we are greatly disturbed by the unfolding tragedy ripping across our land. We cannot, therefore, afford to continue sitting and folding our arms in the face of the violence that portends a bleak future for future generations.”