By Our Reporter
In what appears to be part of the demonstration of its unrelenting determination to secure lives and property of residents as well as douse tension generated by insecurity, the government of Kaduna State has announced that it is invoking an unused military decree made in the state in the past. This was made known recently by the governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, at the presentation of the Kaduna State Security Incidents Report for the Third Quarter of 2021 which held at Sir Kashim Ibrahim House, Kaduna.
The decree was once made in the 1990s as one of the measures to promote peace in crisis-ridden Kaduna State. According to the governor, “we are in the process of establishing a Farmers/Herdsmen Reconciliation Council at the State level as well as similar Committees at the Local Government and Chiefdom and Emirate levels. This is backed by a law, a military edict, enacted in the 1990s. But somehow, we didn’t come across the law until recently. So, we are activating these Committees to help in managing clashes between farmers and herdsmen at all levels.”
He also announced that in its further efforts to assist people affected by incidence of insecurity in the state, the Kaduna State government has made some provisions which it shall now start to implement.
“We have a Riot Damage and Compensation Fund for those who are affected from 2016,” the governor said. “I am therefore directing the Ministry of Internal Security and Home Affairs to draw from the Riot Damage Fund, to pay all those affected, up to, and including this year,” he added.
El-Rufai equally notes that security agencies have made significant gains in the fight against bandits and that the KDSG would continue to support their efforts even as he called for more manpower as well as simultaneous security operations across all the north-west states against bandits. As he noted, “the military and other security agencies have commenced operations against the bandits. These operations, which began in the third quarter, are degrading bandits but they are not yet simultaneous across all the affected states in the North-West region. This reflects the limitations that personnel and other resource deficits have imposed on the federal security agencies. There are simply not enough boots on the ground to have credible deployments in most places to protect communities, deter crime and enforce law and order.”
The governor commended the military, urging them to not be discouraged by politicians who had not shown appreciation for all the sacrifices made by security personnel. “I want to express our gratitude to our security agencies for the sacrifice that they are making,” he said. “I urge them not to be discouraged by comments by those who are uninformed, who think that nothing is being done. My colleagues, the politicians, are the most guilty; just because they want people to clap for them, they will say that nothing is being done. If nothing is being done, you will not be able to sleep. Many of these incidences are being prevented and when they are, you will not hear about it. You don’t hear commendation but when something happens, you hear all the condemnation. As someone who receives the security reports on a daily basis, I know that a lot is being done by the security agencies. I wish to commend you and may God bless you. We are happy with the results of the military campaigns, and it is clear that kidnapping has gone down, but we want more than that. We want to have zero-kidnappings, zero killings,” he added.
He also expressed gratitude to traditional rulers while commending them for all they had done in their different communities to promote peace and reconcile peoples. While addressing the traditional leaders, the governor said, “You are playing a very important role not only in the provision of useful intelligence in your communities, but in also in engaging in reconciliation. You are also engaged in peace-building in collaboration with our state Peace Commission. We urge you to continue and I particularly urge the Agwatyap (of Zango Katab) not to be discouraged by what is happening, to continue to work towards peace. In the end, there is no alternative to peace building. As leaders, we cannot but to continue to preach peace.”
