By Paul Danbaki
In Southern Kaduna today,
many are desperately searching for answers right now. Southern
Kaduna indegenes have seen their loved ones slaughtered, raped and
brutalized. Some have watched their homes, businesses, villages, and religious
places set ablaze and destroyed.
Husbands
have helplessly watched their wives raped and humiliated.
Ordinary
people have been killed and burned publicly. For years, Southern
Kaduna has been experiencing economic, political and structural
siege. Thousands of people are traumatized, resulting in a range of different
cognitive, emotional, physical, and behavioural effects which impact
communities negatively. Hearts are hurting and the suffering is deep!
From
the aforementioned, I join myriads of good people of Southern Kaduna to welcome
the decision to launch an independent investigation with a mandate to cover
allegations of human rights violations since the unabated genocide in Southern
Kaduna; I have confidence that the UN panel would indeed be independent,
transparent, thorough and effective, with a view to establishing the veracity
of the facts before it with a view to bringing to justice the perpetrators of
the genocide in Southern Kaduna.
I
am confident that the indegenes of Southern Kaduna
are ready to assist in ensuring that the investigation is undertaken in line
with international human rights standards. I also reiterate our request for
access to the affected areas, as the situation on the ground makes it very
challenging to access because of the ‘lies’ put forward by kingpins of the
heinous attacks in the region.
More
so, given the tense situation in southern Kaduna where a large security
presence has reportedly been deployed only on the main streets and NOT in the
bushes and hills/mountains where the brutal killers commit their crimes and
withdraw to; in the midst of all these, there are still reports of ongoing
arbitrary arrests, intimidation and harassment of people, a majority of whom
are the victims, this call becomes vital for the survival of the Southern
Kaduna nation.
