The incessant killing and attacks on the peoples of Southern Kaduna by suspected Fulani herdsmen coupled with the inability of the government to manage the situation have called for questions.
In the last one year or so, the menace of Fulani herdsmen on different Nigerian communities have left thousands dead, hundreds maimed, homes and villages desolated and properties worth billions of Naira destroyed.
There has been a harvest of deaths occasioned by marauding herdsmen who have massacred many in Benue, Enugu, Taraba, Delta, Adamawa, Zamfara and Plateau States but none of their bestiality can be compared to the havoc they caused in the Southern parts of Kaduna State in the last three weeks.
The horrendous killings of the indigenes by the herdsmen have been so organized that many feel they are being sponsored by the powers that be, going by the deafening silence from the Presidency that followed the attack and the insinuations that Governor Nasir el-Rufai had paid the herdsmen some money to stop the killings instead of bringing them to book.
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The poor response to the crisis, according to the indigenes of Southern Kaduna, was a clear indication that the alleged payment of ransom to the herdsmen was meant to better equip them for further attacks as eyewitnesses said the attackers were dropped in the town from a helicopter.
The fear and distrust that has accompanied the unwarranted attacks and the silence on the part of the government have made the people feel let down.
On the eve of Christmas of 2016, the herdsmen attacked Goska village, raping and killing of women, children including the 14-year-old daughter of the former Chairman of Jema’a Local Government Area, Barrister Gideon Morik.
Yes, there has been skirmishes in Southern Kaduna in the past, with towns like Zangon Kataf, Kaura, Jema’a and their environs being the worst hit but the carnage this time has beaten all imagination and for the presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina, to come out and say that President Muhammadu Buhari should not speak on anything, tells us that there is more than meets the eyes.
Is it not the same president that is quick to condemn acts of violence in other countries? Is this not the same president that has been championing the cause of Gambia? Is this not the same president that reacted quickly by removing the Executive Secretary of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRCN), Jim Obazee, following the resignation of Pastor Enoch Adeboye of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG)?
Is Southern Kaduna not part of Nigeria or are the indigenes not Nigerians? Why are we being treated as second class citizens? Governor el-Rufai has kept on telling Nigerians that the militants that attack kill Southern Kaduna indigenes are not Nigerians but what has he, the chief security of the state, done to check the menace of the so-called foreigners? Or is he punishing the people for not voting for him?
Why is Gov. el-Rufai and the president seeming to be partisan in the perennial killings of Southern Kaduna indigenes? The patterns of the attacks have been consistent all the time but the government has done nothing to curb the menace.
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The people of Southern Kaduna are under siege from the killer Fulani herdsmen and they seem to be encouraged by silence and inaction of the government, leading to wonder who will save indigenes of Southern Kaduna.
This piece was written by Kelvin Markus, a journalist, and public affairs commentator based in Kaduna State and an indigene of Southern Kaduna.
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