By Ayo Kehinde
Miffed by what they described as the coldly intellectual statement by the Presidency on the ongoing killings in Southern Kaduna, in Kaduna State, naked women led al all-women peaceful protest on Thursday to draw the attention of the international community to their plight as their children and husbands are everyday murdered everyday by unidentified gunmen.
According to one of the women, the statement by the presidency that revenge killings was the major culprit in the killings is untrue and shows the obvious helplessness of the government to put an end to the killings fields that Southern Kaduna has become.
At least 11 people have been reported killed by gunmen in another attack in Gora Gan village of Zango Kataf Local Government Area of Kaduna State in the last two days hours. The latest attack comes barely 24 hours after bandits killed 21 persons at Kukum Daji village in neighbouring Kaura Local Government Area.
Police authorities are yet to confirm the latest attack, but the Chairman of Zango Kataf Local government Area, Ezekiel Manzah, said the attack took place on Monday evening.
He said 11 bodies have been recovered while several others are still missing. The council chairman stated that the gunmen stormed the village despite a curfew imposed by the Kaduna State government.
The women who wore black cloths with patches of black all over their bodies in a protest that terminated at the palace of Atak Njei, Agwamatyap Palace of the Paramount ruler of Atyap) in Zangon Kataf local government area of Kaduna state, said the planned but unstopped killings have taken away their breadwinners and their farms, parents, sisters, brothers, husbands and children, stressing that majority of them are widows, widower and orphans.
Some of the women at the palace of the the Paramount ruler of Atyap) in Zangon Kataf local government area of Kaduna state.
According to Malam Garba Shehu Senior Special Assistant to the President in a statement on Tuesday ; “The violence and killings in Southern Kaduna have persisted because of the “evil combination of politically-motivated banditry, revenge killings and mutual violence by criminal gangs acting on ethnic and religious grounds.”
“From available records, Southern Kaduna enjoys comprehensive security deployments, including the Army, Special Forces of both the Army and the Air Force, surveillance aircraft by the Air Force and mobile police units that are on the ground on a 24-hour basis to forestall criminality and keep the peace.
But unlike other parts of the country, the problem of Southern Kaduna is more complicated than many critics are ready to acknowledge and understand
From available security records, the problem in Southern Kaduna is an evil combination of politically-motivated banditry, revenge killings and mutual violence by criminal gangs acting on ethnic and religious grounds.
It is a situation in which one criminal group will kill a member of another criminal group out of ethnic and religious motivations which in turn leads to the eruption of revenge and counter-revenge, thereby making the job of the security personnel deployed to protect lives more difficult.
We note that revenge and counter-revenge only creates a circle of violence, thereby making everyone else unsafe, especially innocent people.
The Presidency advises the people against taking the law into their own hands which makes the job of security personnel more difficult. Instead, they should report any security breach or threat to peace to the law enforcement agencies.
What is required is for the local authorities to radically improve their intelligence capabilities so that security agencies will be alerted in a timely manner to enable them forestall any planned attacks.
The Presidency in the same manner condemns the recent attacks by bandits in Igali, Birnin Gwari and Giwa local government areas of the State while urging security agencies to intensify their response.”
Thousands of persons have been killed in Southern Kaduna in the last two years.
