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We condemn the recent killings in some communities in Kajaru Local Government Area of Kaduna State and urge the government to rise to the challenge and bring peace to the troubled communities. The bloodletting in Kaduna has once again underscored the growing insecurity in the country. It has also shown the scant premium placed on human lives. In the past two weeks, scores of people had been killed in different parts of the state. The victims included men, women and children. It is sad that the country is steadily sliding to the Hobbesian state where life is nasty, brutish and short.
Initially, the Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, announced that 66 people were killed in Kajaru Local Government Area of the state. Shortly after, the governor said the figures had increased to 130. Some days later, some gunmen invaded the area and killed about 26 more people. Last weekend, there were more killings in the area.
We are concerned about the spate of mindless killings in Kajaru. While we appeal to all the warring parties to sheathe their swords, we task the government and the security agencies to set up a panel that will investigate the immediate and remote causes of the crisis. The perpetrators of the heinous criminality must be apprehended and diligently prosecuted. Those found guilty should be adequately punished in line with our laws.
In the beginning, Kaduna was an accommodating city. As the capital of the defunct Northern Region, it was an abode for all Nigerians, irrespective of tribe, tongue and religion. Men and women of different ethnic groups lived together in peace. But that was then. Over the years, religion and ethnicity have driven a wedge into the amity that once ensured tranquillity in the area. These days, it is one day, one crisis.
Since the days of military rule, political leaders have exploited the differences among the various peoples in the state to their advantages. Today, animosity exists between the peoples of Southern Kaduna and those of the northern axis of the state. The predominantly Christian natives of Southern Kaduna hardly share similar political sentiments with the mostly Muslim Fulani groups in other parts of the state.
The question that boggles the mind is: where were the security forces when a state as volatile as Kaduna descended into chaos? Following the initial killings, it required no expertise in rocket science to know that there would be reprisals from the aggrieved party. The entire area should have been inundated with security agents. It is amazing that soldiers and policemen who should have been on alert were nowhere close to the scene of the crisis when the reprisals began.
But the situation cannot continue like this. The government must bring peace in the area by addressing those issues that trigger mindless killings in Kaduna. The state government must ensure peace and amity among the warring parties. In every society, peace is pivotal to socio-economic development.
Perpetual strife is absolutely deleterious to the growth and societal well-being. The current leaders of the state must begin to work together forthwith to find a solution to this crisis once and for all.
The state government must learn to work with leaders of the different ethnic and religious groups in the state with a view to promoting unity among the people. Government must encourage communal friendship and unity. Whatever factors that have been promoting inter-communal discord in that part of the country must be dispensed with immediately.
Political, traditional and community leaders in the area should avoid the use of intemperate language. Incendiary comments must be replaced with words of love and peace by all the parties. Already, the government is grappling with the insurgency in the North East and the clashes between the herdsmen and farmers in Benue and Plateau states. The nation cannot afford another orgy of violence in Kaduna. Government must stop it immediately.
