By Achadu Gabriel. Kaduna
The National President of the Atyap Community Development Association (ACDA), a popular community development organization in southern Kaduna, said that the purported proscription of the association on Sunday, May 28, 2023, by the outgoing Governor Nasir El-Rufai is illegal.
The national President, Samuel Achie, made this assertion in a statement issued, personally signed, and made available to journalists in Kaduna on the previous Tuesday.
“All these factors make the purported proscription not only illegal but also immoral and oppressive, in line with the hostile and vindictive stance of Mallam Nasir El-Rufai towards the Atyap ethnic nationality throughout his tenure as Governor of Kaduna State.
“It may be recalled that on May 24, 2023, ACDA delivered a letter to the former Governor in response to the proceedings of a meeting held with him on May 11, 2023, at the Government House, Kaduna.
“At that meeting, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai made derogatory, uncivil, and ungentlemanly remarks against some prominent and respected Atyap leaders and statesmen. A copy of the ACDA letter is attached to this press release so that the Nigerian public and the world can understand the reason for the purported proscription of our association in Kaduna State (not seen).
“The ACDA stands firm in demanding that the killers of our people, who have found safe haven among the Hausa in Zangon Kataf town, must be apprehended. Our strong opposition to the former Governor’s attempt to confiscate Atyap ancestral land and hand it over to the Hausa, which goes against the former Governor’s interests, explains the desperate last action of the Governor against our people.
“Our investigation so far has shown that the outgoing Governor El-Rufai never observed or followed due process in his desperate attempt to proscribe the ACDA in Kaduna State, making the purported proscription manifestly illegal.
“The ACDA has not been served with any notice or instrument proscribing it. Our information about the purported proscription was obtained from social media. Members of the ACDA have fundamental rights to fair hearing, association, holding and propagating opinions, among others, as enshrined in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended, the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, and the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights.
“The leadership of the ACDA will take all lawful and legal steps to protect these rights. Members should remain calm and law-abiding as we remain resolute in our commitment to protect our land and people from anyone who thinks they can come from nowhere and take our land.
“To our Hausa brothers in Zangon Kataf town, we urge you to reject those agents provocateurs based in Kaduna and Abuja who are always trying to incite conflict while they remain safely behind their walled mansions in the cities.
“We have always engaged in dialogue to solve our challenges until divisive forces interfere and use force or government fiat to disrupt our peaceful relations. We urge the peace-loving people in Zangon Kataf town to embrace dialogue and eschew violence.
“The Hausa community of Zangon Kataf town should join the peace-loving Atyap people to remove all criminals from their midst in order to restore the peace that we had enjoyed before violent groups, with the complicity of the former government, set out to destroy the peace we had all worked so hard to build and sustain.
“We congratulate His Excellency, Senator Uba Sani, on assuming the mantle of leadership in our State and hope that he will take the
necessary steps to put an end to the incessant killings and crises in Atyap land and Southern Kaduna. We assure him of the prayers and support of the Atyap as he steers the ship of our State to greatness,” it stated.
ACDA, however, congratulated its people for enduring eight years of dictatorship, tribalism, religious bigotry, and sheer hatred by the immediate past government of the State. Let us continue to pray and watch as the struggle for our freedom and emancipation seems to be just beginning. We will not give up, as we are certain that we will celebrate our freedom one day…
Earlier, the community noted that “The news of the purported proscription of the ACDA in Kaduna State by Nasir Ahmed El-Rufai came as a rude shock but not a surprise through a press release issued on Sunday, May 28, 2023, by Mr. Muyiwa Adekeye, his erstwhile Press Secretary, which was purportedly to have taken effect on May 24, 2023.
“The ACDA was initially registered as a Corporate Trustee with the Corporate Affairs Commission, Abuja, under the name Kataf Youth Development Association on October 4, 1989, with registration number 5562. The name was later changed to Atyap Community Development Association and registered on January 27, 2010, with registration number CAC/11/No 36929, respectively. ACDA has branches in all the states and the Federal Capital Territory in Nigeria and the diaspora.
“It is on record that the ACDA, especially during the tenure of Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, has never engaged in any unlawful activities, even in the face of unnecessary provocation and attacks, nor has it received any notice or complaint of any unlawful activities from the former Kaduna State Government or any other quarters that would have warranted any caution, let alone proscription.”
