Rights group Neo Black Movement (NBM) of Africa Worldwide, has raised concerns over the continuous destruction of lives and properties in Southern Kaduna, wondering why government is yet to address the disturbing insecurity in that part of the state.
Speaking in a statement on Wednesday by the group’s Public Relations Officer (PRO), Mr Oluwatosin Dixon, the group condemned what it described as perceived ethnic cleansing by suspected extremists.
“We are appalled by news of Christians facing ethnic cleansing in Southern Kaduna and Christian students routinely kidnapped by suspected terrorists with predominantly Christian schools inevitably shut down.
“It becomes even more alarming when citizens contemplate a resort to self-help in the face of perceived dereliction of functions by the Nigerian government.
“In a most recent SOS, we note the disturbing call from youths of Southern Kaduna crying ‘It’s time to defend ourselves,’ where the Southern Kaduna Peoples Union National Youth Leader, Comrade John Isaac, condemned in strong terms alleged mindless attacks ongoing in Atyap land by suspected Fulani militia.
“Also worrying are statements by the Southern Kaduna Peoples Union to the effect that over N2bn has been paid as ransom to kidnappers by families and friends in Southern Kaduna to kidnappers for the release of victims held in the captivity of suspected Fulani terrorists in the past one year.
“The organisation also expressed concerns that the deteriorating security situation in Southern Kaduna had not improved but continues on a downward spiral,” the statement said.
Meanwhile, President of Southern Kaduna People’s Union (SOKAPU), Jonathan Asake, has described the Presidency as a group of 'attack dogs' who stand in queue waiting for who to attack for criticizing the government of a President who doesn't even seem to exist.
Asake who made the statement in response to the Presidency’s attack on Kukah for reporting the injustice against Christians in the country, to the US Congress last month, said the presidency knows what is happening in Southern Kaduna, but remain mute because they support the killings going on in the region.
He added that even if the Presidency did say something, it is usually to justify the attacks, instead of ending it.
He said, “When you say the presidency, have you heard the voice of the president? What you called that presidency are just a few people.
“They are just on queue that whenever anything happens, they come out as attack dogs with an explanation as to why that thing must happen, even if it is against the people of Nigeria.
“Let me give you an example, There have been series of attacks in Kaduna State; series of criminalities where a whole community is wiped out, like in Zangon Kataf alone where attacks took place within days, over 100 people were killed, and in Chukun Local Government Area, virtually 80 per cent of the community has been displaced, and many killed. But you will never hear anything from that presidency.
“Whenever they want to talk, they will say this is the reason it is happening. When Zangon Kataf came under heavy attacks, Garba Shehu came up in the media and said it was a reprisal. When somebody talks like that from that highly placed position, that means he knows what is going on; he knows who has been offended and the other person is coming to revenge.
“When that person is coming to revenge, he has taken the law into his hands. If there is rule of law, do we have leaders that are responsive and accountable to the people? Of course, if you are responsible, you ought not to allow a reprisal to take place, because we have the military, the police and the intelligence agencies who can nip that in the bud.
"Do you call it a reprisal, where a whole community was wiped out; their houses burnt, their crops destroyed and they are displaced from their ancestral land? And you called that a reprisal without going there to see what has happened. That is the kind of people we have in the presidency.”