Borno elders fear El-rufai’s treatment of Shiites will create another Boko Haram

Apparently disturbed by the way and manner Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State is dealing with the issue of Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), also called Shiite, Borno State Elders Forum has called for President Muhammadu Buhari’s intervention in the matter.

The group in an open letter to President Buhari, issued by its Chairman, Usman Galtimari, cautioned that the Shiites situation in Kaduna, which was similar to Borno case in 2009 that gave rise to Boko Haram, must not be allowed to snowball into another ugly tale.

“From what we read and heard in the print and electronic media, the Islamic Movement of Nigeria has been branded as an insurgency group and therefore outlawed. We see what is happening in Kaduna State as similar to what happened in Borno State back in 2009 leading to a sorry state of affairs in the state.

“Your Excellency may concur with us that there is the need to draw lessons from our recent and indeed ongoing crisis in the North-East and pockets of other crisis across the country. It is therefore necessary to take all the available routes to avert any further incidents.

“We wish to appeal to you to arrest the Kaduna situation and amicably settle all contending issues so that peace will reign in central Nigeria. Our harrowing experiences in the North-East should be enough to guide us as a nation to cultivate peace and peaceful co-habitation,” part of the statement read.

Read also: Southern Kaduna killings is rooted in 2011 elections –El’Rufai

Meanwhile, a senator representing Southern Kaduna senatorial district, Dr. Danjuma La’ah, has said that Governor El-Rufai should face prosecution for allegedly being an accessory to mass murder in Southern Kaduna as soon as his tenure in office expires, accusing him of being an accomplice in the brutal killings in the area.

In a statement he issued to newsmen on Wednesday, La’ah called for the prosecution of the governor for saying he has identified with the killers and their locations and refused to involve the appropriate authority.

“This will lead to their sponsors in Nigeria and other places. Nigeria should then use its diplomatic relationship and extradite these murderers of its citizens, plunderers and arsonists to face justice in Nigeria.

“After Governor El-Rufai’s term in office, it should be possible to prosecute him for being an accessory to mass murder, since he has refused to reveal these findings to the rightful authority for actions to stop the evil which is spreading into many states today”, he said.

He frowned at the statement by El-Rufai that he has had to trace some of the murderous Fulani herdsmen that have been killing defenceless innocent Southern Kaduna natives, to negotiate and paid them sums of money to stop the massacre, burning and tearing down of scores of communities.

“I wish to state that these statements are not only unfortunate, callous, insensitive, crude and demeaning of his office and intelligence, it throws him up as a bigot and hatter of Southern Kaduna and we are holding him as an accomplice in the ongoing genocide in Southern Kaduna,” La’ah said.

 

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