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+--- Thread: How we paid violent herdsmen to stop Southern Kaduna killings – El-Rufai (/showthread.php?tid=741)
How we paid violent herdsmen to stop Southern Kaduna killings – El-Rufai - Mhiz Rebecca - 12-03-2016
Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State has revealed how his
administration traced some violent and aggrieved Fulani herdsmen to
their countries and paid them to stop the killings in Southern
Kaduna.
Speaking with select reporters in his office in Kaduna, the governor
disclosed that the crisis in Southern Kaduna dates back to the 2011
elections.
He revealed that the herdsmen, who were affected by the post
election violence at the time, demanded compensation for loss of
their cattle which his government paid.
The governor maintained that the renewed violence in Southern
Kaduna is being perperterated by bandits.
This is coming at a time when the governor pointed out that God will
ask him of the role he played inresolving the crisis on Southern
Kaduna.
Speaking with the journalists, El-Rufai said, “For southern Kaduna,
we didn’t understand what was going on and we decided to set up a
committee under Gen. Martin Luther Agwai (rtd) to l out what was
going on there. What was established was that the root of the
problem has a history starting from the 2011 post election violence.
“Fulani herdsmen from across Africa bring their cattle down towards
Middle Belt and Southern Nigeria. The moment the rains starts
around March, April, they start moving them up to go back to their
various communities and countries.
“Unfortunately, it was when they were moving up with their cattle
across Southern Kaduna that the elections of 2011 took place and
the crisis trapped some of them.
“Some of them were from Niger, Cameroon, Chad, Mali and Senegal.
Fulanis are in 14 African countries and they traverse this country
with the cattle.
“So many of these people were killed, cattle lost and they organised
themselves and came back to revenge.
“So a lot of what was happening in Southern Kaduna was actually
from outside Nigeria. We got a hint that the late Governor Patrick
Yakowa got this information and he sent someone to go round some
of these Fulani communities, but of course after he died, the whole
thing stopped. That is what we inherited. But the Agwai committee
established that.
“We took certain steps. We got a group of people that were going
round trying to trace some of these people in Cameroon, Niger
republic and so on to tell them that there is a new governor who is
Fulani like them and has no problem paying compensations for lives
lost and he is begging them to stop killing.
“In most of the communities, once that appeal was made to them,
they said they have forgiven. There are one or two that asked for
monetary compensation. They said they have forgiven the death of
human beings, but want compensation for cattle. We said no
problem, and we paid some. As recently as two weeks ago, the team
went to Niger republic to attend one Fulani gathering that they hold
every year with a message from me.”