The Southern Kaduna People’s Union, SOKAPU, has alleged that Governor Nasir el-Rufai was not ready for peace in the state.
The union observed that until the governor tenders apology to Southern Kaduna people and the elders over his derogatory comments against them, it will be taken that the peace process of the government is a ruse.
Reacting to the Peace Summit recently organized by the Nigeria Christians Pilgrim Commission, NCPC, in Southern Kaduna, SOKAPU’s Public Relations Officer, Mr. Luka Binniyat said that Southern Kaduna leaders are always ready to participate in a genuine peace process in the state.
The governor, the statement explained, decided to initiate the peace summit as a face-saving measure, stressing that this is after he had called the leaders names and openly supported the Fulani herdsmen against their people in Southern Kaduna.
It said that the people are not against the peace summit, saying that what is happening in Southern Kaduna under the government of President Muhammadu Buhari is strange as the rural communities are being taken over by Fulani militia who are killing their people.
SOKAPU alleged that since 2015, attacks were targeted at Christian communities, saying that President Buhari and Governor El-Rufai are not saying the truth.
The statement observed that the Federal and Kaduna State governments are only trying to save their faces under intense criticism over the genocide and other atrocities.
It said Kidnapping of Christians in Chikun and Kajuru has taken over N400 million paid as ransom to the Fulani kidnappers, adding that there is no week this year that pastors were not kidnapped or killed.
SOKAPU noted that under a genuine peace process, the organizers should have called those directly affected by the crisis and the perpetrators of the violence for discussion and arrive at a true peace accord.
The statement alleged that the people who were displaced are still living under sub-human conditions with no representatives of the victims and those who perpetrated the violence were not there, stressing that they only brought the intellectuals, government officials and their party men.
“So, there is the need to know them. They are inviting communities as observers. That is not how to bring about enduring peace. If you are talking about a genuine peace process, you have to bring the victims and those who perpetrated the atrocities together. How can there be peace if the more than 50,000 people displaced cannot go back to their homes and communities. How can there be peace if the invaders are still occupying the communities?,” SOKAPU observed.
