By Longtong Ibrahim
Kaduna (Nigeria) — The Southern Kaduna Peoples Union (SOKAPU), an umbrella body of nationalities from southern part of Kaduna state, North-west Nigeria, has accused both the federal and state government of neglecting the entire region, saying, they have been deserted, abandoned and totally neglected to be maimed, raped, brutalized and destroyed by its enemies.
According to them, they had been left in the hands of barbarians who had wrecked maximum havoc, killed many; destroyed properties worth millions of naira as well as grazed on and destroyed their crops.
SOKAPU in a statement signed by its President, Barrister Solomon Musa, explained that, “So far, the locals have been able to identify not less than 40 corpses aside from the several other corpses burnt beyond recognition.
“Virtually, all houses have been burnt in Godo Godo. Property worth hundreds of millions were destroyed while crops have been grazed by cattle and the rest destroyed by the invaders.
“The savagery and barbarity of the attack is beyond belief. Yet, governments at the Federal and State levels appear quiet and noncommittal.
“We have been abandoned, deserted and neglected. SOKAPU is also curious that the attacks on villages in Godogodo started since May 2016 but has been left to linger despite the Government’s explanation that it spends N200 million monthly on security in the state.
“The previous attacks on Sanga Local Government to the current attacks on Godogodo towns, which haven’t shown any sign of diminishing, lend credence to the fact that cattle rustling receive more attention from the monthly N200 million supposedly spent on securities in Kaduna State than on marauding armed herdsmen in Southern Kaduna.
“The Tutsis were abandoned, deserted and neglected during the Rwandan genocide in 1994 until over 800,000 Tutsis were brutally massacred by the Hutus. This is the scenario that is taking place in Southern Kaduna.
“We are being killed, slaughtered and decimated by Fulani Herdsmen, yet it will appear to our people that the government has failed, refused or neglected to intervene decisively to end the carriage.
“As a peaceful people, we have spoken, we have carried out peaceful protests, we have appealed and pleaded for intervention by the authorities, yet our appeal and plea has appeared to have fallen on deaf ears. It will appear to our people that government is not concerned, moved or bothered by the carnage and pogrom in Southern Kaduna.
“SOKAPU regards it as a national shame and an indictment of the state government’s commitment to security issues in Southern Kaduna that about seven villages in Godogodo chiefdom are now completely deserted after being ransacked burnt and the people killed.
“More nauseating is the added fact that in villages like Ninte, Akwa, Ungwan Anjo, and Antang – the people had been sacked from their villages, while the armed herdsmen have permanently taken over the villages and boldly grazing their herds on the farms of the villagers.
“With thousands of people that have been displaced, the current attacks can only add to that number if the State Government does not muster up the will to urgently address the ongoing genocide in our zone.
“It will appear that Southern Kaduna does not deserve the attention, sympathy or intervention of government. It will appear that we have been abandoned, deserted and neglected. We do not deserve the intervention or sympathy of the Federal or State Governments.
“Security personnel are posted to the main highways only; from April to date, there does not appear to be any form of intelligence gathering, no form of surveillance, no form of proactive measures to forestall future occurrences; no form of intervention by government.
“From April to date, neither NEMA nor SEMA has deemed it fit to rehabilitate, resettle or to bring any kind of relief materials to the victims of the attacks in the area. No relief materials, no IDP camps; no protection for our villages.
“What have we done to deserve this? Is it because of who we are? Why have we been abandoned, deserted and neglected? Will this have happened if it is elsewhere? Are we part of Kaduna State? Are we part of Nigeria? If we are not, we then deserve our state and our nation. We can stand on our own.”
The group however tasked the state government as a matter of urgency to show concern by inquiring to arrest and prosecute those involved in the attacks; set up a permanent security formations in the area; intensify its intelligence gathering mechanism and also include aerial surveillance of those attack-prone villages as a proactive measure; as well as provide aid to the injured and displaced victims.
“We call on both the State Government and Federal Government to place greater premium on human lives by carrying out decisive and combined operation to halt the genocide immediately in order to assure the people that we are indeed part of Kaduna State and Nigeria” the statement noted.
It would be recalled that between the night of Saturday 15th October and Sunday 16th October, 2016, not fewer than 20 people died in an attacked on Godogodo community in Jama’a Local government Area of Kaduna state.