•Abdulsalami
Former
military head of state, General Abubakar Abdulsalami (rtd); the Sultan
of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar III; the Catholic Bishop of
Sokoto Diocese, Dr.Matthew Hassan Kukah; and other members of the
National Peace Committee yesterday launched a fresh initiative to
restore peace to Southern Kaduna.
Hundreds of lives have been lost in
repeated attacks on villages in the area by people suspected to be
Fulani herdsmen, heightening tension in the state.
The delegation met with Governor Nasir El-Rufai on the issue.
General Abdulsalami told reporters at
the end of the meeting with the governor that peace could only return,
if the people were ready to dialogue and forgive one another.
He said he and other delegates would go
round the affected villages and towns for more consultations with the
chiefs and community leaders.
“Within the week, we are going to meet
with other stakeholders, religious leaders, chiefs in the area and also
visit the sites where these problems are and discuss with the people,”
he said.
“We will later sit down and see what we think should be done.
“Then, we come back to the governor and if necessary to the federal government.
“These clashes and killings are not
limited to Kaduna State; it is something that is engulfing the country.
So we want to make sure that peace reigns in Nigeria, to make sure that
people know that we are together. We have to live in peace with each
other and we have what it is to give and take.
“We are reaching a situation in the country where human life doesn’t mean anything to people and this is wrong.
“There is no religion on earth or
anywhere that preaches violence. So this is why we are here today. We
thank the governor and his team for receiving us. One of the points that
the governor drew our attention to is the way people take the law into
their hands and they go scot-free. And this impunity must be checked.
These are some of the issues we discussed.
“Everybody is aggrieved in one way or
the other, so what we beg of people is to be patient; try as much as
possible to forgive and to be each other’s keeper. We must live
together; we must find solutions to the problems; we must sit down and
talk to ourselves because there is no problem that cannot be solved when
you are talking to each other.”
Bishop Kukah also said: “I think the
visit is more of a solidarity with the people of Kaduna State. We are
here to hear for ourselves what exactly is happening and what we can do
in the hope that we can find a way forward based on the situation.
“We are part of the delegation. I
convened the peace committee and what we are doing now is trying to
bring about peace. We are looking at how we can achieve peace and
stability.
“I think what the people of Kaduna
State, including the government, should be doing now is to look into how
we can achieve peace and development and I think that is the reason we
have democracy.
“So whatever contributions anybody can make, we need to make them. People have expressed their minds.
“What is going on now is a very sad
phase in our history, but I believe that we can get over it and we will
get over it and come out stronger and committed to peace”, he said.
Credit; The nation News.
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