An Imo State indigene and public opinion moulder, Comrade Paul Njoku, has accused the Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir Ahmed El-Rufai and President, Muhammadu Buhari, of failing to protect the lives and property of Nigerians especially those in Southern Kaduna.
Njoku was reacting to the recent killings in Southern Kaduna in a statement made available to Church Times.
He said Southern Kaduna people are being killed unjustly by suspected Fulani militia because they are predominantly Christians adding that the region has experienced more genocide than any other parts in northern Nigeria.
Njoku said the 24-hour curfew in Southern Kaduna was what made the attackers carry out their heinous acts uninhibited.
“The curfew made it easy for the attackers to ambush and to weaken the self-defence and physical prowess of the peaceful youths and people of Southern Kaduna against their orchestrated killers whose sponsors and perpetrators are unknown and could not be arrested and prosecuted despite the curfew. ”
He decried the attitude of Governor El-Rufai and President Buhari to the killing of Christians in the state stating, “The mass murder in Southern Kaduna is unwarranted. The defence mechanism of both the Federal Government and the Kaduna State Government remains unreasonable and unacceptable. ”
Njoku, further lamented the periodic murder of Christians by the Fulani killer militias and bandits, while government security agencies look away. “Churches in Kaduna State and Nigeria have been appealing to their people to be law-abiding but no one is appealing to the Fulani killers to stop the genocide in the state.” He said.
The rights activist cited Article 51 of the United Nation Charter on self-defence against non-state actors and therefore urged the people of Southern Kaduna to rise up to the occasion and defend themselves
While insisting that the duo of El-Rufai and Buhari should be held accountable for the senseless killings in the region, he asks rhetorically, “Are you not aware of the senseless carnage and pogroms? Are the people of Southern Kaduna not our fellow human beings? How would they feel if their children are gruesomely slaughtered in such a barbaric way?”
He stated that every human being on Earth has the fundamental human rights to life and to live peacefully as guaranteed by the United Nations. The murdered people are relatives of some people who have been thrown to despair
Fulani Militia on Saturday, July 25, according to reports launched fresh attacks on Southern Kaduna Communities despite a 24-hour curfew imposed by the Kaduna State Government.
The Southern Kaduna Peoples Union had also said 63 people had been killed in the last one week by suspected Fulani militia.
The latest killings were reportedly carried out around 7 am on that Saturday during which three communities were attacked. The communities include Zikpak and Ungwan Masara (Fantsuam Chiefdom) both in Jema’a Local Government Area as well as Maraban Kagoro in Kaura Local Government Area.
The spokesperson of SOKAPU, Luka Binniyat, lamented that no fewer than 50 gunmen invaded Zikpak and started shooting repeatedly. Having attacked Zikpak, the gunmen reportedly headed for Ungwan Masara and Maraban Kagoro where they also carried out further attacks.
The attacks were fifth on the series of recent attacks ascribed to Fulani militia on Southern Kaduna.