Tackle Insecurity In Crisis-ridden States, IDFP Appeals To Buhari, Govs

BY SIMON REEF MUSA, ABUJA – President Muhammadu Buhari and state governors have been called upon by the Interfaith Dialogue Forum (IDFP) to intervene and rein in criminal elements causing violence and killing Nigerians in various parts of the country, especially in the states of Kaduna, Plateau, Zamfara, taraba and Benue.
Addressing the media after its advocacy visits to five states by the forum, both co-chairmen of the IDFP, Alhaji Ishaq Kunle Sanni and Bishop Sunday Onuoha, appealed to “President Muhammadu Buhari, state governors and other relevant security agencies to ensure quick resolution of the crisis ripping across the various states.
In the forum’s brief observation on its recently concluded advocacy and fact-finding visits to some of the crisis-hit states, the interfaith body called on state governors and critical stakeholders to hearken to the cries of the people with the view of resolving current insecurity conditions plaguing the people.
While in Zamfara the forum was told that “activities of cattle rustlers and other criminals engaged in kidnapping and armed robberies remain obvious bumps to peace” the involvement of the local vigilante known as ‘Yan Sakai’ was listed as major reasons for the violent crimes confronting the state.
In Benue, the interfaith discovered that what it described as “resource struggle” between herders and farmers, while both the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and Jama’atul Nasril Islam (JNI) dismissed the crisis as being religious. Stakeholders insisted, according to the IDFP’s finding that government must work fast to “economic empowerment through job creation was harped upon to tackle the joblessness faced by youths.”
In Plateau the forum noted that clashes between farmers and herdsmen are becoming an albatross to peace efforts and called on both government and international community to intervene by enhancing security and providing financial aids to alleviate the suffering of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). In Taraba State, the forum further revealed, it was appalled by the worsening conditions at the IDP camps and called on government and the international community, especially donor agencies, to assist in averting the pitiable conditions of these IDPs.
Kaduna State stakeholders, the IDFP identified “hypocrisy among some members of communities, actions and inactions of some religious and political leaders who are not practicing what they preach as factors responsible for the conflict.”
Identifying youth restiveness caused by unemployment and mutual distrust among various groups remain a major challenge, the forum lamented that it was unfortunate “His Royal Highness, the Agom Adara, Dr Maiwada Raphael Galadima, was abducted less than 48 hours after he granted audience to our team. He was later assassinated b his abductors. The IDFP’s team cheated fate as Kasuwan Magani was enmeshed in an orgy of violence, less than an hour after the team interacted with critical stakeholders and left for Kafanchan. After its completion of its activities in southern Kaduna, the IDFP’s convoy was confronted with the ugly scene where the above mentioned monarch was abducted.”
The IDFP was founded in 2016 and is supported by the Vienna-based King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz International Centre for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue, popularly known as KAICIID Dialogue Centre, an international organization that supports dialogue platforms and trains peace builders globally. Throughout the visits, the IDFP teams met with critical stakeholders like security agencies, monarchs, Jama’atul Nasril Islam (JNI), Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) and Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), among others.