El-Rufai defends Fulani killings in Southern Kaduna, blames bloodshed on bandits

Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State has responded to the killings in Southern Kaduna in a manner that sees him defending the Fulani widely alleged to be killing the indigenes in the troubled zone without protection of the locals. The governor rather shifted blaming bandits over the perennial killings in Southern Kaduna, saying that the activities of bandits are being misinterpreted as ethnic and religious conflicts in Southern Kaduna.  Governor El-Rufai was of the view that such perception tends to exacerbate communal tensions and pitch people who have lived peacefully together against each other.

The Kaduna governor insisted that insecurity in the state is the handiwork of criminal elements who have been killing and kidnapping people, and rustling cattle in the entire north-west region.

The Kaduna governor had maintained: “these criminals attack people, irrespective of their religion or ethnicity and they have been perpetrating their reign of terror in Giwa, Birnin Gwari, and parts of Igabi Local Government Area.”

Governor El-Rufai maintained that attacks by bandits have not been concentrated on one part of the state. He assured that the state government had taken steps to secure Southern Kaduna, including sighting of a military base and two mobile police squadrons in the zone. The governor, however, stated that “ultimately peace depends on the willingness of people to live in harmony and to settle their differences peacefully.”