SECTARIAN tension has gripped Kaduna State and the authorities have to act fast before another unmanageable crisis takes root. According to civil society groups, over 20 persons have been killed in recent skirmishes between indigenes and those perceived as "settlers." As usual in the Northern states, conflicts among ethnic nationalities in the state also assume a religious coloration which makes reconciliation harder.Recently, gunmen have reportedly been sneaking into isolated villages to kill innocent residents. The Christian Association of Nigeria said at least 10 of such raids were carried out in villages in Southern Kaduna that left at least five persons dead and scores of others injured between July and September. On July 24, a gang of marauders suspected to have crossed over from Niger Republic carried out a pre-dawn raid on Angwan Yaro and Yuli villages in Jemaa Local Government Area. Another 10-man gang on August 21 attacked Fadiya Bakut village in Baju District of Zango-Kataf, killing two persons. In September, heavily-armed gunmen raided Angwan Rana Bitaro village in Jaba Local Government Area at about midnight and killed three persons in another of such mindless attacks and arson. That same month, another gang raided Tabak village in Zonkwa, stormed the St. Josephs Catholic Church, killing two persons and injuring 14 others. And earlier this month, unknown assailants sneaked into the Kafanchan main market and set it ablaze.Residents claim that similar raids have since occurred in parts of Southern Kaduna on October 10, October 21, November 4, November 8, November 11 and November 18. During the last raid on Angwan Masaraba village, near Kafanchan, the village head, Mallam Bulus Adamu, his wife, Ladi and a toddler were put to the sword by the marauders.The roots of sectarian violence in Kaduna State run deep. Kaduna, Zaria, Kafanchan, Zango-Kataf and other towns lost their fame as melting pots where people from every part of Nigeria made their home and co-habited in serene harmony in 1986/7, when some elite hijacked the national debate provoked by the countrys membership of the Organisation of Islamic Conference to inflame divisions. At the same time, some extremist religious groups sprang up in Kaduna and Zaria, preaching an exclusive and intolerant ideology. The result was bloody riots in 1987 that started in Kafanchan and engulfed many parts of the state and beyond. There have been more flare-ups in the state since then, including the Sharia riots of 2000 and 2002. Tensions over land ownership had erupted in the Zango-Kataf riots of 1992. But tensions and mutual suspicion have not abated, to the extent that any minor argument between two persons from either side of the ethnic and religious divide could spark a conflagration. For instance, the discovery of a corpse in Angwan Katsit area of Kafanchan on November 9 provoked a riot by youths who blocked roads and set bonfires that shut down the historic railway town for several hours. Curfews are in place in parts of the state and open warfare is just below the surface.Governor Patrick Yakowa should understand that he is presiding over a tinder box and he needs to muster skills and determination to ensure that this potentially volatile state does not become another Plateau State or home to terrorism like Borno and Yobe states. He should mobilise all security forces, local government councils, community leaders, religious leaders and traditional institutions to broker peace. The Federal Government should give priority attention to the security situation in Kaduna. The state should deal decisively with perpetrators of mayhem and murder by prosecuting them in the courts. It will be tragic if the police and other security agencies allow Kaduna to go the way of Plateau where politicians and elements within the security services have allowed partisan considerations to becloud their actions. The murderous gangs raiding villages in Kaduna State are reported to be doing so as reprisals for killings in parts of Southern Kaduna after the April presidential election when bands of youths, protesting the loss of the Congress of Progressive Change candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, staged orgies of killings and arson in many northern states. According to Jamatul Nasr Islam, reprisals by youths in Southern Kaduna also killed many Muslims. The gangs attacking villages, markets and churches are apparently out to exact revenge, which could also attract retaliation, a trend that has turned Plateau into a war zone. The authorities must act very decisively. Kaduna is still the symbolic political capital of the 19 northern states where all Nigerians should feel safe. The state also hosts the largest concentration of strategic military formations, including the Nigerian Defence Academy, the Command and Staff College, infantry school, training depot, the Defence Industries Corporation, and headquarters of the Armys I Division and the Air Force Training Command. These are unifying institutions and symbols of a shared destiny for all Nigerians. The community leaders, especially religious leaders, should work hard to ensure peace because sectarian strife, as the sad history of Lebanon has shown, produces no winners, only deaths, destruction and stagnation.
Click here to read full news..
