From Noah Ebije, Kaduna
Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has appealed to residents of Kauru and Zangon Kataf local government areas to stop reprisal, saying it had cost the communities 387 lives within two years.
He spoke against the backdrop of the clash between farmers and herders which led to the death of one person on Tuesday.
El-Rufai reiterated his call to the people of the two local government areas to recourse to the law and avoid generalisations which keep complicating security situation in the two councils.
The governor spoke at an emergency security meeting involving traditional rulers, religious and community leaders from the councils at the palace of Agwatyap, Atak Njei in Zangon Kataf Local Government Area.
Represented by his Commissioner for Internal Security, Samuel Aruwan, the governor said in two years, 387 lives were lost due to attacks among Atyap, Fulani, Chawai, Irigwe and Hausa communities in Kauru and Zangon Kataf local government areas.
“We are here on behalf of the governor following the renewed killings in Kauru and Zangon Kataf local government areas. It is a big setback but we will not relent. We are reiterating our appeal for recourse to the law and avoidance of generalisations.
These killings and counter killings are unjustifiable. For instance in 2020, 114 citizens were killed in Zangon Kataf and 28 in Kauru, and in 2021, 186 were killed in Zangon Kataf and 59 in Kauru and if you put the figures, we lost 387 people in these two councils. In 2021, 100 citizens incurred gun shot injuries in the two councils, 77 in Zangon Kataf and 23 in Kauru. This is aside, houses and settlements burnt, farms destroyed, cattle killed and collapse of the rural economy affecting all the communities. We must rise to the occasion and put a stop to all these challenges, arising from the behavior of a few elements on all sides. Let us reason together and avert this needless bloodshed.”
