MiddleBelt Call On Buhari To Declare State Of Emergency In Kaduna Over Rising Insecurity
President Muhammadu Buhari has been urged by the Middle Belt Forum (MBF) to impose a state of emergency in Kaduna State.
According to the forum, Nasir El-Rufai, the governor, has demonstrated his inability to keep the peace.
Security personnel were also urged to form essential synergies with attacked communities by forming local vigilante organizations to chase down criminals who have declared war on the people, according to the event.
According to Dr Pogu Bitrus, the forum’s National President, the appeal was prompted by Governor el-egregious Rufai’s failures to protect the lives and property of the state’s residents.
The most concerning aspect, according to the forum, is Governor Brown’s attitude.
El-approach Rufai’s to addressing the state’s security concerns, emphasizing that he has refused to engage with kidnappers and has done little to protect these vulnerable areas from repeated attacks.
According to the forum, “More than anytime, Governor el-Rufai has continued to provoke bandits through unguarded utterances that have further enraged them to unleash more terror attacks on various communities.”
The forum added that the most disturbing is the recent abduction of over 120 students of Bethel Baptist High School in Damishi that is located in the outskirts of Kaduna, adding that these minors are still being held captive in the forest with no food, shelter or medication.
“This new wave of attacking schools by the bandits appeared to be in the agenda of Boko Haram and is aimed at frustrating the education of future generations upon whose shoulders lie the future greatness of our nation,” the forum lamented.
The Middle Belt Forum (MBF) expressed grave concern over the country’s deteriorating security situation, particularly in Kaduna State, where the increasing tide of instability has continued to worsen on a daily basis.
It was noted that communities across the state have been subjected to unending severe attacks, resulting in gruesome massacres, rape of women, and property destruction, as well as incessant kidnappings exacerbated by large ransom payments to secure the release of abducted persons and the displacement of thousands of people from their homes.
According to the statement, the situation has become the new normal in Kaduna State, and the political leadership appear either incapable of dealing with these security difficulties or willfully reluctant to stop the recurrent murderous tide in its tracks, implying collusion.
More concerning, according to the statement, is the fact that attacks by these killer herdsmen and Fulani kidnappers on defenseless communities have resulted in massive displacement of people from their ancestral lands, resulting in a humanitarian crisis and preventing farmers from accessing their farmlands for agricultural activities.
It was stated that contemporary school attacks have resulted in the departure of pupils and students from schools or the outright closure of such schools, with unimaginable bad effects for education and food security.
In most cases, the kidnappers have taken over all routes connecting Kaduna State to other parts of the country, where they have continued to terrorize road users, according to the statement, adding that these criminals are not only abducting farmers from their farmlands, but have also broken into homes at night to abduct people.
According to the statement, members of entire families are sometimes kidnapped and herded into the forest, where relatives of victims are forced to pay unimaginable amounts of money in ransom, and some abducted persons are killed even after such ransoms are paid.
It was stated that two nurses abducted from the Idon General Hospital in Kajuru LGA of Kaduna State on April 22, 2021 were only recently released after the kidnappers were paid over N10 million and other materials were handed to the criminals.
The daredevil kidnapper also attacked the National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Centre in Zaria on Monday, July 5, 2021, abducting ten people, including five nurses, newborns, and their mothers, according to the statement.
It stated that on May 21, 2021, about 77 Libere community members (including women and children) in Kajuru LGA were abducted when they returned to their ancestral land after taking refuge in an Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp since May 2020, adding that the incident was never mentioned in the government of Kaduna State’s regular security updates, while the abdu
It said that nine people were killed, including four children and three women, in an attack on Warkan hamlet in Zangon Kataf LGA over the weekend, and that 13 homes were entirely destroyed.
It went on to say that on Friday, June 21, 2021, the cold-blooded criminals attacked Ungwan Madaki community in Chikun LGA, on the outskirts of Kaduna, killing two people and kidnapping 26 others, including infants, adding that four of the victims were killed because they couldn’t pay the ransom, while 22 others are still languishing in their captors’ den.
