Contrary to insinuation that the killings in Southern Kaduna are communal clashes between farmers and Fulani, the Southern Kaduna Peoples Union, SOKAPU, have refuted the claim, saying that it is a pure act of genocide aimed at wiping out the indigenous people of the area with the aim of taking over their ancestral lands.
The forum called on Nigerians and the international community to come not only to the rescue of the people of Southern Kaduna but humanity as a whole.
Its National President, Mr. Jonathan Asake, in his remarks at the 2nd Black Sunday organized by the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, Kaduna State chapter, at ECWA GoodNews Church, Narayi High Cost, Kaduna refuted claims made by the Commander Operation Safe Haven, Major General Chukwuemeka Okonkwo that the killings were communal killings made between Atyap youths and Fulani.
He asked whether the attacks carried out in Kajuru, Chikun, Kauru, Kachia and Sanga local government areas, among others were between Atyap and Fulani.
According to him, the truth must be told that there is a grand ploy to massacre the people of Southern Kaduna and dispossess them of their ancestral lands.
Expatiating on the allegation that the killings are premised on farmers/herders’ clashes, Mr Asake noted that there is no greater lie than the narrative that the killings in Southern Kaduna is hinged on clashes between farmers and herders.
He explained, “When you consider that over 75 per cent of the victims of the attacks are children and women, then you will understand that since children and women are not farmers, we cannot accept the narrative of a clash between the two groups.”
The National President expressed dismay with the recent challenge thrown to the Southern Kaduna monarchs by governor Nasir El-Rufai to point at villages and towns seized by invaders, referring the governor to several sacked towns and villages in Kajuru and Chikun Local Government Areas of the state.
He explained that on Saturday, August 8, 2020, representatives from the Southern and Middle Belt Forum, SMBF, visited Kala IDP camp in Kajuru local government area where over 3,000 persons mostly children and women are taking refuge after being sacked by suspected Fulani invaders from their towns and villages.
The SOKAPU President wondered whether it is the murdered Agom Adara that should take up the challenge and inform the governor of the towns and villages that have been occupied by the invaders.
He noted that SOKAPU has come up with a list of villages and towns being occupied by the suspected Fulani invaders and the various IDP camps where members of the sacked communities are presently taking refuge.
Mr. Asake further said that while on a visit on the IDP camps by the representatives of SMBF, there were pathetic stories from the IDPs of their experiences with the invaders, saying that their cultivated farmlands have been completely destroyed by the invaders, leaving them with nothing.
