The Chief of Defence Staff, Lt-Gen. Lucky Irabor, has restated the resolve of the Nigerian military in restoring peace and harmony in the southern part of Kaduna State.
It would be recalled that Southern Kaduna is one of the hotbeds of deadly attacks in recent months.
Irabor disclosed this in Kafanchan, the headquarters of Jema’a Local Government Area on Thursday during a peace parley with stakeholders in the Southern Kaduna crisis.
He stated that the days of perpetrators of violent attacks in the area were numbered as the military was prepared to unleash the full strength of its arsenal on them.
“We are committed to ensuring that peace is restored in this part of the country.
“However, for those who do not want to heed our appeal for peace and who think that violence is what they need to unleash on us, I am here to tell them that their days are numbered.
“If the peace in Southern Kaduna is disrupted, the peace in Kaduna and indeed the peace in Nigeria will be disrupted because Kaduna is central to the existence of Nigeria,” he stated
The Defence Chief cautioned the people against taking laws into their hands in the face of provocations, urging aggrieved parties to always recourse to the law.
He pledged to increase military presence and hardware in Southern Kaduna but maintained that there must be a willingness amongst the people to embrace peace for such to yield a positive result.
“You can have all the personnel and equipment in the world, if there’s no willingness amongst the people to live in peace, it will count for nothing.
“So, we need to start looking at ways beyond military deployment to solve this crisis,” he added
He advised communities to set up security committees as well as vigilante groups to work in consonance with security forces to fish out criminal elements.
On stoppage of night grazing as suggested by some stakeholders, Irabor promised to bring up the issue as a point during the National Security Council meeting.
“This is not something I have authority to make a decision on, but I can assure you I will bring it up as a point during the National Security Council meeting for further consideration,” he said
In his remarks, Gov. Nasir el-Rufai, represented by the Commissioner of Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan decried the politicisation of the crisis in Southern Kaduna.
He said the state government would continue to do its part in carrying out its primary responsibility of protecting lives and property.
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