Rising Killings In Southern Kaduna

After some relative peace in southern Kaduna, there seems to be a rise in killings in the area recently.

Rampaging gunmen on Sunday night reportedly killed over 28 people in separate attacks in Malagum 1 and Sokwong communities of Kagoro Chiefdom in Kaura Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

The attack is coming barely five days after an attack was launched in Malagum 1 killing three persons.

Expectedly, condemnations have trailed the latest killings in southern Kaduna.

The Kaduna State All Progressives Congress (APC) Campaign Council condemned the attack in Southern Kaduna, describing it as shocking and unfortunate.

Kaduna State government, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), and the Labour Party (LP) have also condemned the renewed attacks in strong terms.

A statement issued by the commissioner for internal security and home affairs, Aruwan Samuel, on behalf of the Kaduna State government, consoled the families of those killed.

The governor, Nasir El Rufai, also condemned the attacks describing them as inhuman, considering the efforts of the government, security forces, the traditional institution, and other critical stakeholders within the last week.

On its part, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Kaduna State chapter, averred that the killers of Southern Kaduna people were yet to be neutralised.

The Southern Kaduna People’s Union (SOKAPU) in April this year had alleged that within six years,148 communities were attacked in Southern Kaduna while 200,000 natives were displaced.

Speaking on the impact of banditry and terrorism in the area in the last six years, the SOKAPU president, Hon. Jonathan Asake, said 200, 000 of the inhabitants were displaced and over 148 communities were destroyed by the bandits and terrorists.

Indeed, the orgy of violence, bloodshed, and destruction in southern Kaduna certainly cannot continue. Government must  find a way by all means to halt this ugly trend.

No doubt, the military has been overstretched with various security operations in different parts of the country. While the war against insurgency is still going in the North East, bandits are making life a living hell for people in the North West and parts of the North-Central. Although the military has been recording tremendous successes of late against bandits, despite, yet the waves of kidnapping and other criminalities being perpetuated on a high scale around the country remain a constant cause for concern.

The 2019 Global Terrorism Index (GTI) showed that Nigeria remained the third most impacted country in the world by terrorism, ranking behind Iraq and Afghanistan.

In our considered opinion, the Kaduna State Government should implement the white paper on the Zango-Kataf crisis. The state government had in 2020 set up an eight-member committee to draw up a white paper on two reports on the perennial crisis in the Zangon-Kataf Local Government Area of the state. The committee is to work on the recommendations of the Justice Rahila Cudjoe Commission of Inquiry.

Sadly, two years after the committee was set up, nothing has been heard of it again.

It is sad to note that the state government had lamented that one of the factors identified by the Justice Cudjoe Commission as an immediate cause of the 1992 carnage in Zangon-Kataf is still a trigger for murder and unlawful conduct 28 years after that tragedy.

This newspaper contends that while land ownership can be adduced as one of the reasons for the continuous killings, trust and religious intolerance have also been identified as major triggers of the endless crisis.

It is also our contention that the reason for the recurring crisis in parts of Kaduna State is the inability of the government to deal decisively with culprits and perpetrators of the killings.

That said, there’s no doubt that the government needs the support of political, religious, and traditional rulers to end the killings in Southern Kaduna. The people should be properly oriented on the need to embrace peace and religious tolerance.

Also, severe punishment should be seen to be meted out to perpetrators of the killings which will serve as a deterrent and boost the confidence of the people in the security agencies and the government.