Yakowa Pleads As Non-Indigenes Flee Kaduna

FACED with mass exodus of non-indigenes from Kaduna State due to the violence that erupted in the state, Governor Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa has appealed to them not to desert the state.Yakowa pleaded with the fleeing residents yesterday to stay and join him to ensure the emergence of a people-oriented government, saying Nigerians must learn to embrace dialogue rather than resorting to violence to resolve issues.He said they should turn out en-masse on Thursday, April 28 to exercise their franchise and join in rebuilding the state.Addressing journalists in his office, Yakowa said there is no reason for any Nigerian to resort to violence as there were enough provisions in the nations laws to seek for justice, adding that violence has never solved any problemWhile joining President Goodluck Jonathan to say enough is enough, the governor said: Let us embrace dialogue in resolving issues; let us embrace the path of peace. There is enough in the law and electoral act to use instead of resorting to violence.We will no longer accept any act of lawlessness. Henceforth, security operatives will deal with troublemakers because nobody is above the law. Therefore, I want to appeal to political, religious and traditional leaders to guide our youths so that they dont take the laws into their own hands.He assured registered voters in the state of their security during the elections and asked them to come out en-masse to vote for the candidate of their choiceMeanwhile, the Southern Kaduna Peoples Union (SOKAPU) has that it has every reason to believe that the violence was premeditated and not spontaneous as the sponsors would want Nigerians and the world to believe.In a statement yesterday, the National Public Relations Officer of SOKAPU, Timothy Bonet, said the fact that the violence broke out long before the results of the presidential elections was collated and announced, lends credence to the fact that it was planned and executed to achieve the objectives of the sponsors.Also, the Leader of the human rights community in the North, Malam Shehu Sani said they have commenced investigations into alleged shooting of civilians at Rigasa, a suburb of Kaduna metropolis.He alleged that those responsible for the shooting were snipers in a helicopter during the violence.At a press conference in Kaduna yesterday, Sani, who was flanked by other rights activists, said reports reaching them indicated that killings that were going on and warned that the human rights community would drag perpetrators to the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
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