Include Kaduna On List Of States Affected By Herdsmen/Farmers’ Crisis – SOKAD

BY SEGUN ADEBAYO, ABUJA – The People of Southern Kaduna In Diaspora (SOKAD) on Monday called on both President Muhammadu Buhari and the National Economic Council (NEC) to include Kaduna State to be visited by the Governor Umahi-led Sub-Committee to ascertain the cause of herdsmen/farmers’ conflict and hold consultations with the stakeholders and interested parties on how to end the conflicts”.

In a press statement made available to Forefront and signed by the SOKAD President, Freeman Kamuru; Secretary General, Danlami Ngboze, and Financial Secretary, Saidu John B, the group described the crisis involving herdsmen and farmers as “the singular challenge of our time that is seriously straining our cohesiveness as a nation. The delay in making such a move has most certainly contributed to the loud calls for restructuring as many Nigerians have felt that the Federal Government has deliberately, by commission or omission, decided that some lives are expendable and do not deserve protection from the state security services.”

According to the statement, “However, we are concerned that the visit may omit one of the frontline areas of the herdsmen killing fields- Southern Kaduna; and the Federal Government is not accurately defining the problem.  While it may be politically expedient to call the terrorism of the herdsmen a conflict with farmers, even the casual observer of events in our beloved country knows that this problem has largely been herdsmen hacking down innocent citizens, usually unsuspecting, unarmed natives, and very often, in their sleep.  The few casualties among the herdsmen have always been associated with defensive efforts or in a few cases, reprisals from raw emotions after entire villages and their people have been wiped out.   The mission of the visiting NEC Sub-Committee need to be accurately defined, if not, the findings and final recommendations may miss the mark and leave us without a solution.

“Equally concerning is the fact that Kaduna State, which at one time was the epicenter of herdsmen terrorism, long before they spread to other states, is not included among the States to be visited by the Committee.  This omission defies logic and reason. Even today, we received a reliable report that innocent and defenseless worshippers in a church were sprayed with bullets by herdsmen, killing 4 and seriously wounding scores!  On a daily basis, the lives of over 3 million citizens in that part of Kaduna State are in danger of sudden death at the hands of terrorist Fulani herdsmen.    There is simply no social activity from dust to dawn, even in areas not placed on a curfew.  Until recently, all tertiary institutions of learning were shut down for over a year in that part of the State.   Simply put, there is no State more frontline in this pogrom than Kaduna State.  We ask that the NEC revise the itinerary of the visiting Committee and include Kaduna State, along with the already selected states of Benue, Taraba, Zamfara and Adamawa.

“SOKAD- USA joins Southern Kaduna Peoples Union (SOKAPU) in expressing our displeasure for the glaring omission of Southern Kaduna on the list of frontline areas to be visited and request a correction. We also decry the ineffective representation of Southern Kaduna by our Senators and members of House of Representatives.”