The month of July was one of sorrow tears and blood as armed militia attacked several communities in Southern Kaduna again and again, an area that has unfortunately become synonymous with targeted killings especially in recent years.
Kaduna, the third most most populous state in Nigeria, is made up of a predominantly Hausa/Fulani population in the Northern parts of the state and about 30 different minority ethnic groups mainly Christians in its Southern parts. Historical and cultural differences which also have religious connotations have created an unending cycle of violence especially in the last three decades.
However, the violence of the last 6-7 years has been between nomadic Fulani cattle herders and indigenous Southern Kaduna minorities who are mainly farmers. The intensity and frequency of attacks appear to have picked up pace since 2016.
The month of July started on a bloody note when on the 2nd, two women were attacked and seriously wounded in Doka community in Kajuru LGA. Three days later, Yohanna Mutane was murdered in Maraban Kajuru. Since then, it has been an orgy of killings, attacks and counter-attacks.
Media reports and statements from the Southern Kaduna Peoples Union (SOKAPU) say 22 people were killed between 10-12 July while global human rights group, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said at least 43 people were reportedly killed in four days of attacks between July 21 and 24.
Giving details, SOKAPU said on July 10, nine people were killed and many injured when Fulani militia attacked the Chibwob community in Gora Ward, Atyap Chiefdom in Zango Kataf Local Government Area. This prompted immediate peace moves by the traditional ruler Agwatyap who directed his village heads to hold peace meetings with Fulani in their domains.
Ten people were killed on July 11 in villages close to Chibwob and also in Kigudu community on the boundary of Zangon Kataf and Kauru LGAs. They were allegedly burned to death inside a house in which they had taken refuge. Following this incident, the Kaduna state government imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew on the the two affected areas.
In spite of this, on the morning of July 12, the militia launched an attack on Ungwan Audu village in the Gora Ward of Zangon Kataf LGA, killing one person and looting the entire village before razing it to the ground.
Efforts were then intensified to find some common grounds to make peace but these failed as the killings soon resumed.
On Thursday, July 23, armed men identified as part of the Fulani militia attacked the village of Agwala Magayaki of Doka Avong, Kajuru LGA in Southern Kaduna, for the second time in a month, leaving 6 persons dead and two fatally wounded.
The Southern Kaduna People’s Union (SOKAPU) named those killed in Kajuru as John Mallam, 80; Albarka Mallam, 85 and Jumare Sule, 76. Others are Hannatu Garba, 55; Thaddeus Albarka, 32; Luvinus Danmori, 52 and
Daniel Mukadas, 70.
Relentlessly, the militia struck Zipkak, a semi-urban town in Fanstwam Chiefdom, Jemaa LGA in Southern Kaduna on Friday, 24th July, killing 10 people. A SOKAPU statement provided the names the deceased as Joel Cephas, 5 yrs, Kingsley Raphael, 28, Katung Kantiock, 60; Luka Garba, 75; Victor Ishaya, 22; Madam Dakaci, 52; Kuyet Yayock, 25; Cecelia Audu 65; Martina Dauda, 70 and Yanasan Dauda, 70.
They also fatally wounded Mrs Jonathan Ishaya, Martins Agang, Kassan Duniya, Jenifer Nicodemus and 5 year old Joel Cephas.
At about 6am on Saturday 25th July, the grieving Fanstwam people were once again forced to flee their homes after armed Fulani militia emerged from nearby bushes and opened fire on villagers. Fortunately, courageous youths of the community resisted the invaders who fled.
Apparently grieved to the bone and unable to contain their anger, hundreds of Atyap women stormed the palace of their paramount ruler at Atak Njei in Zango Kataf Local Government Area of Kaduna state to protest the killings . The women who went naked in the tradition of bitter protests, wailed, wept and bemoaned the killings in their communities calling on the authorities to act to save them from extermination.
The Governor of Kaduna state Nasir El-Rufai then extended the 24 hour curfew over the entire Jemmaa LGA.
However, the allegations of killings have by no means been one-sided. The Fulani community has also claimed losses from attacks in some communities in Zango-Kataf LGA. In a media statement, Malam Ibrahim Bayero Zango, Director, Media and Publicity of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria MACBAN in Kaduna State, disclosed that two Fulani nomads were killed at Ungwan Gaiya near the palace of the Chief of Kataf in the house of a certain Alhaji Ja’e. The group named the deceased as Abdullahi Ja’e and Pate Ja’e both in their early thirties.
It also said two young men and an elderly woman were killed at Ungwan Juju. while four others were killed at Gora Sagwaza and one person was killed at Matai, all in Zango-Kataf LGA.
MACBAN condemned the killings and called on the Kaduna state government to fish out the perpetrators and bring them to justice. It however praised what it called “the prompt action and courageous response” of the Kaduna State Government to the crisis
Humanitarian Crisis
Expectedly, survivors of bloody attacks fled their homes and took up refuge in surrounding towns.
Sources told Daybreak News that there are thousands of Internally Displaced people scattered around Dora, Kasuwan Magani, Rimau and Kallah in Kajuru LGA. Also, IDP camps have sprang up in Goningora in Chikun LGA where the victims are living in inhuman conditions.
The inability of the IDPs to go back to their homes due to the insecurity in the villages has made life very uncertain. Hunger and deprivation, disease and malnutrition is taking its toll on the displaced persons as a return to normalcy appears very far-fetched.
Genocide or Mere Clashes?
There have been contention as to the nature of the killings in Southern Kaduna. While the FG and the Kaduna state government insist the killings were carried out by “criminal groups”, the victims and other human rights groups prefer to label it a genocide as they appeal for international intervention.
The search for a permanent solution to the killings may well depend on the definition of the mayhem. A call of genocide would involve the international community and the International Criminal Court’s special investigators. A description of mere criminality on the other hand, effectively localizes the carnage and places all outcomes on the processes of government.
In a statement, the FG describes it thus, “It is a situation in which one criminal group will kill a member of another criminal group out of ethnic and religious motivations, which in turn leads to the eruption of revenge and counter-revenge, thereby making the job of the security personnel deployed to protect lives more difficult.”
Disagreeing with this, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) accused the Federal Government of aiding and abetting the killings and called on world leaders including President Donald Trump to intervene in what it referred to as “crimes against humanity” in Southern Kaduna.
Meanwhile, a petition has been sent to the International Criminal Court ICC calling for investigations into what it described as “pernicious mid-grade genocide” in Southern Kaduna. The petition which was signed by Human Rights lawyer Emmanuel Ogebe urged the The Hague based court’s Prosecutor to act urgently.
Most importantly, Article II of the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide defines genocide as any of the acts of killing with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.
The report of an inquiry by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for International Freedom of Religion or Belief in the UK Parliament titled ‘NIGERIA: UNFOLDING GENOCIDE?’ also highlighted the nature of the attacks in light of historical and religious contexts. The report published in 2020 provides a comprehensive perspective which indicts the Nigerian government as having failed to protect citizens especially minorities in Southern Kaduna.
Call to Self Defence
Given these killings many of which are within earshot of military bases and security posts, a growing shade of opinion advances the necessity of some citizens bearing arms for self-defence.
National Christian Elders Forum (NCEF) supported this position in a statement on the crisis. They said “Having received sufficient signals from the security units that they are incapable of defending and protecting Christian lives, the Christian Elders are, therefore, mobilizing Nigerian Christian leaders to evolve measures to protect and defend themselves because self-defence is legal.”
And to walk their talk, the Christian Elders have gone ahead to revive the Lay Faithful Trust Fund whose objectives are to promote peace, protect Christians, and ensure balance and order in the country.
In the same vein, the Catholic Archbishop of Abuja Most Rev. Ignatius Kaigama declared support for self defence as a means of survival in the absence of state security.
This call to arms is clearly symptomatic of a loss of confidence in the security forces and in the ability of the government to restore law and order. Allegations of security indifference are rife in the Southern Kaduna crisis just as several Southern Kaduna groups have accused the Kaduna state and Federal Government of bias and providing the Fulani militia official cover to perpetrate these atrocities.
The UK All Party Parliamentary Group report captures it succinctly “The Nigerian Government’s general inability or unwillingness to effectively manage resources, or to offer security or justice to the communities subjected to violence, is one of the key drivers of the escalating violence as it has led to increased competition and the rise of ethno-religious militias.”
With no end in sight, another round of bloodletting was unleashed in the Zango Kataf LGA on August 5 when up to 33 natives were killed in five villages in Atyap Chiefdom in the area. The Southern Kaduna Peoples Union disclosed this in a press statement on Thursday. The group named the affected villages as Apiashyim, Kibori, Apiako, Atakmawei and Magamiya. SOKAPU lamented the military enforced curfew which has created rising cases of child malnutrition, kwashiorkor and poverty as natives of the area are unable to fend for themselves.
No Peace in Sight
The ding-dong nature of the killings make a permanent solution very difficult. Revenge and counter-revenge killings between the Southern Kaduna natives and the Fulani in the last few years have made a peace process rather complex. The finger-pointing is exemplified by the latest reactions to the killings by SOKAPU and Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN). Speaking to the Guardian, Jonathan Asake, SOKAPU President accused the Fulani of genocide and the government of providing cover for same, MACBAN said, “The people of Southern Kaduna tribes and Christians, in particular, should stop blaming the current event there on Fulanis. They should stop attacking Fulanis.”
So far, there does not appear any pragmatic effort to end the tide of blood in Southern Kaduna. Apart from Governor El-Rufai’s claim of paying certain aggrieved foreign Fulani to bring them to terms of peace, there does not seem to be any comprehensive effort by government to address all the historical, cultural and religious underpinnings of the incessant bloodletting in Southern Kaduna.
Like a lawless bubble of impunity, Southern Kaduna has been left to a blood orgy revenge and counter-revenge where clearly, one group is far better armed and able to operate even under securityscrutiny of curfews.
