The Sultan of Sokoto and Chairman, Northern Traditional Rulers Council, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, has called on politicians behind the killings in Southern Kaduna to stop the act, if they don’t want to be consumed by it.
The Sultan, who described the killings in Southern Kaduna as “madness that has to be stopped immediately”, noted that “enough is enough as no man in his right senses go on a killing spree of innocent people under whatever guise”.
Addressing the Northern Traditional Rulers Council’s executive meeting on Monday at Lugard Hall, Kaduna, Sultan lambasted politicians as force behind unrests in the southern part of the state.
He however warned the people of the state and Nigeria in general to beware, as “no politicians mean well for them”, “you keep on igniting killings based on ethno-religious differences because it is the innocent children that are killed while that of the elites are protected.”
Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna state reminded the meeting that the Southern Kaduna crises have prevailed for the past 40 years since the first Kasuwan Magani riot.
According to the governor, “Kaduna is a mini Nigeria with over 52 ethnic groups, meaning that 10 percent of Nigeria’s ethnic groups are from Kaduna state. The danger of it is that, crimes committed by criminals for their own selfish motives are given ethno-religious interpretations.”
Speaking on what his administration has been doing to address the killings, el-Rufai said, “A military base, Mobile Police depot, Air Force and strike force personnel have been deployed to the zone.
“Also, equipment like drones and GSM trackers are being used which had helped to neutralise thousands of the bandits in the state. We also set up a Peace Commission to mitigate between the aggrieved people.”
