The Kaduna State House of Assembly has constituted a fact-finding committee to immediately ascertain and report back to the House the incessant attacks on the people of Southern Kaduna by suspected Fulani herdsmen.
The committee is to give the House a clear picture of the security situation in the area with a view of finding a lasting solution to the unabated loss of lives and property.
The member representing Jema’a local government area in the Assembly, Mr. Labari Shelly Tella, in his petition under ‘Matter of public importance’ before the floor of the House on Wednesday, said, “l am standing here with a heavy burden in my heart. My constituency is in urgent need of help against the debilitating social malaise that is aggressively claiming innocent lives.
“Recently, while we were in recess, Godogodo in Jema’a local government and its environs namely, Ninte, Gada Biyu, Golkofa, Dogon Fili, Antang and Angwar Anjo are concurrently besieged by well-armed suspected Fulani militia. Within the span of one month, multiple attacks have been carried out.
“In all the attacks, a number of people have been killed, mostly women and children, many people have sustained different degrees of injuries, crops worth millions of naira have been destroyed by Grazing herdsmen and number of houses have been burnt down.
“Victims are left to fend for themselves without any form of support from the government, as it is, they lack basic necessities to ameliorate their sufferings while many more are living under harrowing conditions. Though l have called for calm and there is visible security in some selected areas, government need to intervene and brace up the existing calm atmosphere to make it more enduring.
“Following comments from victims of the attacks and escapees from different quarters across the troubled areas, it is alleged that some of the attacks being carried out by the Fulani belligerents would have been prevented through rapid response by Joint Task Force or security operation by the Police or any relevant security agencies.
“But, the situations were deliberately mismanaged and grossly compromised allowing the killings to continue unabated. They further alleged that the duo of the Area Commander and the DPO in Kafanchan lack professionalism and failed to play neutral roles, they are also distrust, bias and are criticized for poorly managing the situation in carrying out their statutory duties.”
The House member noted that the affected communities were questioning the integrity of the two police officers and their capabilities to return the situation to normalcy, stressing that conflicting reports were given on the actual situation on ground.
“If the situation is not brought under control, the continuing loss of the productive capacity of the population will continue unabated and that will portend a graver consequence to survival and agricultural yield.
“As it is now, people have fled their homes and have seek refuge in various locations within and outside the state for the fear of been maimed or killed. From all indications, there will be poor agricultural yield and hunger in the coming harvest season and ensuring year respectively as a result of the ongoing uncertainties,” he lamented.
He called on government to take prompt action by providing sufficient security to curtail the spate of attacks and boost public confidence for the people to go about their normal farming businesses without fear of intimidation.
Mr. Tella also called on the federal and Kaduna State governments to deploy more relief materials to ameliorate the continued hardship being suffered by victims.
Comments