Monday, 26 December 2016
Once again the Southern Kaduna
Peoples' Union (SOKAPU) has had to painfully send out condolences to the
murdered people of Goska village in Jema’a Local Government Area of Kaduna
State. Ironically, on a day that our people ought to be joyously celebrating
the Christmas festivities, was the day they were reduced to burying their loved
ones, treating the wounded in hospitals and coping with a fresh batch of
internally displaced people of Goska village whose houses were burnt down.
Burnt and killed on 24th December 2016, while happily engrossed in preparing for the Christmas celebration, secured in their knowledge that a 24-hour curfew meant to keep them indoors would also keep away their killers. Alas how wrong they were.
SOKAPU is calling on all people of
goodwill to personally hold Governor Nasir El-rufai responsible for all those
murdered in Goska village because these killings took placed under a 24-hour
curfew, imposed on Zangon Kataf, Kaura and Jema’a LGs by the Governor. While
people were forced to stay indoors, pampered marauding herdsmen whose presence
around Goska has been noticed and reported by people around that area for
almost three days, attacked the town and for hours killed and burnt without let
or hindrance from security. This amply confirmed our assertion that the 24-hour
curfew slammed on the 3 LGs in Southern Kaduna was just to punish the people
for daring to protest the persistent killings in their villages on 20th
December when El-rufai visited kafanchan.
It means the Governor lied on
December 21 when, in justifying the 24-hour curfew slammed on the 3 LGs said, “The
State Security Council said it took the step following credible intelligence
about risk to lives and property in the areas.” More than 20 communities have
been attacked and hundreds killed without the Governor getting any ‘credible
intelligence’ to lives and property but he became drowned in ‘credible
intelligence’ to justify his curfew when youths and women protested the
killings in his presence.
To confirm that the Governor’s sole
intention was to punish those who protested against him, look at the answer he
gave State House correspondents when on 22nd December, he visited Aso Rock to
get endorsement for the 24-hour curfew from Mr. President. “I don’t think
the state government should be blamed, those responsible for the violence that
broke out in those parts of the state should be held responsible for that. We
have not imposed curfew in other parts of the state, we had to impose curfew
here because of the situation that was caused by irresponsible behaviour by
certain people.”
Those who initially thought the
24-hour curfew was to stop the herdsmen from continuous killings now can see
the real reason for it.
Even the hundreds of policemen,
soldiers and other security personnel quickly drafted to those 3 LGs,
especially Kafanchan were just to enforce the curfew and arrest those the
Governor felt disrespected him or trying to defend themselves and not to stop
the killings. This was further confirmed by the attack on Goska, because
despite the hundreds of security men brought in from all over, Goska village,
just some few kilometers away from Kafanchan town was still attacked. And like
always, the security went to Goska village after the marauders had killed,
burnt and left.
Where was the surveillance helicopter that flew round Kafanchan during the day? What happened to it during the attack? Where were all the hundreds of security personnel quickly mobilized to Southern Kaduna? For some times we have been crying and screaming ourselves hoarse that we need security in Southern Kaduna but nobody paid any attention until when someone felt the need to ensure that his curfew isn’t flouted.
With the attack on Goska, who will
the Governor now blame? He has blamed everybody for the continued killings in
Southern Kaduna except himself or those he paid money to stop the killings. So
who will he now blame for the Goska attack? Maybe they were Niger Delta
militants disguised as fulanis!
We are saying it calmly that all men
of goodwill should hold Governor El-rufai responsible for the killings in
Goska, due to his inflated ego, unguarded utterances, appallingly undignified conduct
in handling the killings in Southern Kaduna and his morbid penchant for
deliberately living in denial of the actual people and reasons for the killings
in our area since he became Governor.
We condemn the attack in Goska
village and condole with the bereaved. SOKAPU is calling on all our people to
remain calm, never to go on any reprisal, never to take the law into their
hands and remain law-abiding. In the midst of all this, we are wishing all
people in Kaduna state a Merry Christmas and a prosperous new year.
Signed: Mr. Yakubu Kuzamani
National Public Relation Officer
