Southern Kaduna Massacre: Presidency is Still Silent

Even before the New Year, cries had been on that the peoples of Southern Kaduna were being murdered in dozens on daily basis, just because of the ‘crime’ that they are different from Northern Kaduna (and in fact the whole of core Northern Nigeria) in belief and in tribe. The killings are still going on from flimsy reports. Curfew has been declared which deprives the indigenes of freedom of movement, yet one wonders how these bloody Fulani beasts still break the security to maim and kill innocent citizens in cold blood if they are not aided by strong forces. It is quite disgusting, seeing goring photos of people (both young and old) being slaughtered like chickens, as if they too had no right to life.

These ill-fated persons are peoples of the federal republic of Nigeria, who deserve, above all, the security guarantees of the different arms of government effective in the country: be it Local, State or Federal. But the Presidency is silence. Despite the tolls of deaths recorded on daily basis, we still have a Presidency without ears. This is the same disturbing silence the Presidency affected when the same Fulani war-men raided the country, in disguise of rearing cows, but in real sense, they were out for ethnic cleansing, shielded by the backings of influential Northern elements.

Worse still, the Presidency seems to have left the fight for a weak State Government who seems to have lost the fight even before it began. Governor El Rufai, few weeks ago, had shamefully told the press that the people perpetrating these bloody attacks were not from the country. They come from neighbouring countries: those Fulanis who were caught up in the post-election violence of 2011, are coming for revenge, to destroy citizens of a state which he claims to govern well. He didn’t end there in the press release; rather, he went on to disclose shamelessly that he gave out our hard-earned money to pacify the ‘enraged’ murderous Fulanis of another country, instead of using the huge amount of money to buy good guns for security operatives to defend the citizens he governs. What a malicious act! This very heinous act goes to prove that the Governor (because he is Fulani) prefers Fulanis in another country to the citizens of Nigeria who are not Fulanis.

The disturbing aspect of this unfolding event is still the fact that since the occurrence of this dirty killings, only a notable Fulani northerner has responded, condemning the killings. Others have been mute. Others have chosen the path of silence, the same way they chose it when the Agatu and Enugu massacres occurred. The question now is, where would all these lead the country? Would it still be better if we pretend to be one when we know we are not?

What does the massacre mean to Buhari and his northern administration? Does he feel good watching the citizens of Nigeria murdered in cold blood? Is it actually a revenge mission fronted by the Presidency itself? Why did the DSS respond so swiftly when some Fulanis were killed in Eastern Nigeria few weeks ago? Does it mean we have lives that are precious and those that are not? There are a lot of question this epileptic Federal Administration must answer.