By Sufuyan Ojeifo
“Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in
mankind; and, therefore, never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls
for thee.” John Donne
Southern Kaduna is
a microcosm of Nigeria .
It is, by any stretch of the imagination, emblematic of our collectivity.
The people, who are marooned in their troublous ancestral Kaduna locale share a common civilization
with us who are, somewhat, liberated in the ambiance of the expansive
Nigerian-nation. Therefore, the killings of southern Kaduna indigenes by Fulani herdsmen, for
whatever reasons, are nothing but fatal assaults on the humanity in all of us.
The south of Kaduna has, historically,
become a minefield of mindless genocide that has left the people immersed in
eternal fear. Scores of indigenes have been killed by installments.
Unfortunately, many more will, painfully, be victims of Fulani herdsmen’s fatal
rampages as there are yet no verifiable foolproof measures in place to avert
the incessant cold-blooded massacres that have been the tragic narrative of the
hapless people.
One is continuously diminished by the killing of a man or woman,
youth or child in southern Kaduna ,
an enclave that is predominantly occupied by Christian population. “One
life taken in cold blood,” according to the late inimitable journalist, Dele
Giwa, “is as gruesome as millions lost in a pogrom.”
Every life
wasted in southern
But that has, essentially, been the lot of the southern Kaduna people. Morbid
fear has gripped the minds and defined the atmospherics of their
homeland. Their sense of longing for and belonging to the homeland is
violently attacked. Their foes have consistently taken advantage of their
non-violent nature to inflict substantial damage on their lives, positions and
livelihoods. There is understandable agony in the hearts of the people
over brazen attempts by belligerent aliens to subjugate them in their land.
There is even a greater anguish over the seeming complicity of the
state government in the unremitting spate of deadly attacks by the Fulani
herdsmen. The governor of the state, Malam Nasir el-Rufai, has been
blamed for waging an unrelenting media campaign against southern Kaduna people. He
is said to have failed in his responsibility to maintain the peace and order in
the area as the state’s chief security officer.
Fearless Catholic bishop of Kafanchan Diocese, Reverend Father
Joseph Danlami Bagobiri was on point when, recently, he accused el-Rufai of
taking sides with the armed herdsmen, thus failing in his responsibility as a
true statesman; and becoming, therefore, a biased umpire who, according to the
priest, “blames and criminalises southern Kaduna victims as the cause of the
mayhem.”
Perhaps, if the governor had shown sincere empathy, he would have
acted proactively to avert the latest attack of April 15, 2017 in Asso Village
in Jema’a Local Government Area, in which no fewer than 13 people, including a
parish priest, Reverend Father Alexander Yayock, were killed. He should
have deployed the paraphernalia of security apparatuses and his security votes
to mobilize thorough surveillance based on credible intelligence report of
potential flashpoints.
Close watchers of developments in southern Kaduna are inclined to conclude that the
state government may have decided, for reasons best known to it, not to care
about the entire population facing real threat of annihilation. This must have,
perhaps, prompted the alarm raised by the President of the Christian
Association of Nigeria (CAN), Dr Samson Ayokunle, over the inability of the
federal government to stop the killings in southern Kaduna .
All the attacks that have taken place in southern Kaduna have been executed with precision,
leaving devastations in their trails. Both domestic and international
observers have been shell-shocked at the persistent ease with which these
harbingers of death stealthily make their ways into the communities and
villages in southern Kaduna ,
unleash mayhem therein and egress to celebrate the slaughter of the so-called
infidels.
Paradoxically, while the Fulani herdsmen and sympathisers of their
religion loathe the infidels who populate southern Kaduna , they love their heritage, their
grazing land, and would gleefully take their cattle through their farmlands to
graze. They do not only graze, they also kill the owners of the land.
And this destruction of fellow humans has been indulged by the Kaduna state government
for too long.
To be sure, Ayokunle’s indictment of the federal government at a
press conference held Friday, April 21, 2017 in Abuja ahead of the 104th annual session
of the Nigerian Baptist Convention came on the heels of the launch of Harbin
Kunama II (Scorpion Sting) at a forest between Kagoro and Kafanchan, southern
part of Kaduna State by the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Tukur Yusuf
Buratai.
The Operation which, according to the Army, would last for a month
is aimed at addressing the issue of insecurity in southern part of Kaduna state and parts of Kano , Plateau and Bauchi states.
Ayokunle must have, in the meantime, been circumspect about the sincerity and
success of the operation.
The extent to which the operation will go to put a stop to
the massacres in southern Kaduna
is yet unknown, given its ad-hoc nature, which targets a one-month
period. Fulani herdsmen should be credited with some strategic
intelligence. They can suspend their surprise attacks for that long, wait
for the military to pull out before launching fresh hostilities. The
operation should be sustained until the chances of further attacks by the armed
herdsmen are either rendered very slim or completely eliminated.
As the Army plans to lock down some forests of Kano , Plateau and Bauchi states in the operation, more
attention should be paid to southern Kaduna
given the peculiarity and the nature of the constant tragic attacks by armed
herdsmen. The area should be the launch-pad to drive the operation to
other identified states. And, as positive results are yielded, the
operation may well renew the people’s hope and confidence in government’s
ability to protect them.
Ojeifo wrote in from
Abuja (ojwonderngr@yahoo.com)
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