Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai has ordered the arrest and prosecution of the suspected masterminds of the November 14 attack on some Southern Kaduna villages by suspected herdsmen.

This came as the displaced people of Rimi, Kitakum, Ungwan Magaji and Kigam in Kauru Local Government Area of state appealed to the state government to help them get over the shock from the attack.

The attack has displaced over 2,000 indigenes of the communities from their homes, and also claimed the lives of 39 persons while several others were injured.

The State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai was at the community to broker peace between the natives and the herdsmen, and ordered the arrest and prosecution of the suspected masterminds of the attack.

The Governor, while sympathising with the people, promised to work closely with the security agencies in the state to stop the attacks.

He also urged the communities to embrace peace and cease from taking the law into their hands, promising to address the complaints raised by the communities.

On their part, the leadership of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria promised to call their members to order and to stop further attacks.

The association’s Assistant National Secretary, Ibrahim Abdullahi, spoke on behalf of the cattle breeders: “What the Governor has said is a fact. As an association, we are ready to live in peace. Some of us have been living is this part of the community for so many years.

“It is unfortunate what happened has happened. But we will ensure how we can live in peace.

“The Governor said it is our responsibility to live in peace with one another, our people are ready to return to their communities.”

Although government has promised to do everything possible to stop further attacks in southern part of Kaduna state, the people demanded that an urgent arrangement be made for their immediate return to their homes so as to resumes normal lives.

Many residents of the communities were yet to return to their homes a week after the attack.

While many fled to neigbouring communities in Nasarawa, Plateau and Abuja pending when normalcy would return, others who have nowhere to go have become homeless.

Some of them were being camped by the State Emergency Management Agency at a primary school in Chawaii Chiefdom.

Principal Challenges

The President General of Chawaii Development Association, Rueben Turbi, condmened the attack and the condition it has led the people into.

He told Channels TV that members of the communities have lived in peace with one another until Fulani herdsmen attacked them in a bid to forcefully take over their farmlands.

“From nowhere, we received a letter from the Fulani men that they were coming to attack the entire community and the day that the notice was given, precisely, on the 12th, we warned the entire community that we received a security alert that the Fulani people are coming to attack us.

“And of course they were all alert, but suddenly when they came, they were shooting from all over the community, burning down houses, killing people. In fact, they almost wiped the entire community.

“Now the question is this, do we have a government in place? If there is a government in place, why are these people going about perpetrating evil not brought to justice?

“We want the state and federal governments to build a police post in our community, and not only that, we need a full functional divisional headquarters here in Daman Kasuwa.

“And in each of the districts, there should be an outpost for security consciousness. Just in case if anything happen, they will control the situation and try to protect lives and property.

“One of the principal challenges we are facing is the fact that we don’t have road, if not before the attack would have escalated, security agencies could have rushed in to control the situation, but because the road is bad, the Fulani men did the damage and left.” (Channels TV)

•Photo shows Governor El-Rufai.

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