Middle Belt Forum urges Buhari to declare state of emergency in Kaduna over insecurity

The Middle Belt Forum on Sunday decried the deteriorating security in the country, particularly in Kaduna State, where the killing of harmless people by bandits had continued unabated.

The National President of MBF, Dr. Pogu Bitrus, who reacted to last Friday’s killing of 10 people in Kaduna via a statement, urged President Muhammadu Buhari to declare a state of emergency in the state.

He insisted that Governor Nasir El-Rufai has shown gross incapacity to maintain peace in the state.

Bitrus said: “Arising from the glaring failures by Governor El-Rufai to protect lives and property, the MBF is calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to declare a state of emergency on Kaduna State as the governor has shown gross incapacity to maintain peace. We call on security forces to create necessary synergies with attacked communities through the establishment of local vigilante groups to track down these criminals that have declared war on our people.

“Most disturbing is the recent abduction of over 120 students of Bethel Baptist High School in Damishi that is located in the outskirts of Kaduna. These minors are still being held captive in the forest with no food, shelter, or medication.

“This new wave of attacking schools by the bandits appeared to be in the agenda of Boko Haram and is aimed at frustrating the education of future generations upon whose shoulders lie the future greatness of our nation.

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“The most worrisome is the attitude of Governor Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai towards tackling the security challenges confronting the state. While he has refused to negotiate with kidnappers, he has also not done anything to secure these weak communities against further attacks on vulnerable communities.

“More than anytime, Governor El-Rufai has continued to provoke bandits through unguarded utterances that have further enraged them to unleash more terror attacks on various communities.

“Communities across various local government areas in the state have come under unending severe attacks resulting in gruesome massacres, raping of women, destruction of property, incessant kidnappings made worse by huge payments of ransom to secure release of abducted persons and displacement of thousands of people out of their homelands.

“More worrisome is the fact that attacks by these killer herdsmen and Fulani kidnappers on defenceless communities have led to massive displacement of people from their ancestral lands, thereby creating a catastrophic humanitarian crisis situation and rendering farmers unable to access their farmlands for agricultural activities.”

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