‘Don’t Demoralise Troops With False Claims On Kaduna Forest Killings’

A coalition of 15 non-governmental organisations working for peace and national unity in Northern Nigeria has warned the public against demoralising the troops of the Nigerian Army working to restore peace in the country.

The group picked holes in the allegation against troops of the Nigerian Army following the discovery of 11 bodies in Kaduna forest believed to be those of some Fulani natives.

The coalition, led by an international peace advocacy group, Global Peace and Life Rescue Initiative (GOPRI), reacting in a statement following an on-the-spot visit and assessment of the crime scene as well as the Fulani Community in Kaduna, appealed to the Fulani community, particularly the deceased family to remain calm and law-abiding, pledging that they would get justice in the gruesome killing of their relatives by yet-to-be-identified assailants.

The group, which exonerated the Nigerian Army, passed a vote of confidence in the General Officer Commanding 1 Division, Major General V.O. Okoro, and the troops, saying they had worked to the delight of peace advocates in the regions.

The coalition’s statement was signed by the leader of the group and the executive director of the Global Peace and Life Rescue Initiative (GOPRI), Amb. Melvin Ejeh; Dr Ibrahim Modibo, Convener of Conference of  Fulbe Awake Forum Africa (FUAFOA); Dr Hamza Uba  Sani,  Northern Nigeria Human Rights Initiative(NONIHUR) and Hajiya Zainab Mohammed, president  Women In Peace Building and Good Governance Forum( WOIPBAG).

The CSOs said the statements by some groups alleging complicity of troops in the unfortunate killings of the Fulani natives were unsavoury, just as it commended the General officer Commanding GOC 1 Division Nigerian Army Kaduna, Major General VO Okoro, and his men over their professionalism and dogged commitment to fighting banditry and other forms of criminality within their area of responsibility.

The coalition said from its fact-finding visit to Tilde Fulani in Laduga grazing reserve in Kachia local government area of Kaduna State, where they received a formal complaint from Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) Kaduna State Chapter, there was no evidence yet to link troops to the dastardly act.

To this end, it appealed to the Fulani community to remain calm, pledging its unwavering commitment to assist them in getting justice over the act.

It called on some faceless groups planning to cash in on the development by planning unnecessary protests in some parts of the country to desist, describing them as merchants of crisis.

The group said its position was informed by a visit and assessment of the crisis area to provide independent findings into the alleged extra judicial killings of 11 Fulani natives allegedly by some soldiers of the Nigerian Army from 1 Division  Kaduna.

The statement reads in part: “Leader of the Group and the Executive Director of GOPRI, Amb. Melvin Ejeh and his team, who were received by the Village Head of Tilde Fulani in Laduga, Alhaji Mohamadu Yusuf and some of the victim’s relatives, Mallam Adamu Idris,  Abubakar Mohammed,  Suleiman Abdullahi, took the team around the community and the scenes where the corpses were recovered. They later proceeded to a stakeholders’ meeting where he addressed them.