The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Kaduna State Chapter, has discredited a report by Governor Nasir el-Rufai that 66 persons were murdered in Kajuru local government area of the state.
Kaduna CAN Chairman, Joseph Hayab, in a statement on Saturday, said it was a false alarm intended to mislead Nigerians and the international community.
“The press statement by the spokesman for Kaduna State Governor, Mr Samuel Aruwan, suggests that ‘the killings in Kajuru Local Government were carried yesterday (Friday) 15/2/2019. This is false in its entirety.
“We are aware that the incident happened in the late hours of Sunday 10 February to February 12, 2019, at about 1am at Gindin Gada in the Maro Ward of Kajuru Local Government, Kaduna State where unidentified hoodlums went into the village and killed about 11 people in their sleep.
“The incident led to reprisals. Two of the suspects were said to have been apprehended and handed over to the Divisional Police Officer in the area. It was in the afternoon of the said date of the attack (as contained in the press statement) that the District Head of Kufana, Mr Titus Dauda, and four of his local chiefs were released after their invitation by the Department of State Services.
“We see this as an illogical intentional, premeditated attempt at stirring violence in the state for whatever expected gains. The incidence of raising false alarm by the Kaduna State Government should make Nigerians realise that some of our leaders are also guilty of hate speech and that makes them major actors in the game that has denied us peace and has claimed the lives of our love ones,” the statement read.
The Zonal Coordinator, North-West office of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Ishaya Chonoko, also denied a fresh attack on Kaduna residents as alleged by the governor.
Mr Chonoko told Sunday Punch in a telephone interview on Saturday that the last attack in Kaduna happened last Sunday where 11 people were killed.
“There was an attack last week (Sunday) where 11 people were said to have been killed. It was the usual tribal clash between the Fulani and the indigenes. Anytime there is a clash between two tribes in Kaduna, there is usually reprisal.
“We made necessary contacts only to discover that it was merely a rumour to instigate violence. Please disregard it. It is not true at all,” said Chonoko.
