Kaduna Crisis: Senators condemn violence, blame Gov El-Rufai

By Kemi Busari

Senators on Wednesday expressed divergent views on the crisis in Kaduna State with some of them blaming the governor.
PREMIUM TIMES reported how the Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has since the latest outbreak of violence last week, met with various stakeholders and interest groups in a bid to ensure peace in the state. The governor has also held meetings with security chiefs and has declared a curfew in the areas affected by the violence which has caused at least 77 deaths.
Some senators, however, appear unimpressed with the govenror’s actions and accuse him of not doing enough.
The Kaduna South senator, Danjuma Laah, accused Governor Nasir El-Rufai of being the architect of the recent crisis in the state.
Mr Laah, a known critic of Mr El-Rufai, said the governor did not take necessary measures to curb the crisis which has left at least 77 people dead in various parts of the state within one week.
The lawmaker was reacting to a motion by his Kaduna North colleague, Suleiman Hunkuyi, who brought the issue to the notice of the Senate.
Mr Hunkuyi specifically noted that some hoodlums were taking advantage of the curfew imposed on parts of the state.
“The Senate is worried that locking people in what has been provided by the curfew within their homes and their immediate hamlets, other vices have continued to happen uncontrolled and unabated.
“Mr President, this shows that the curfew might have in its own precinct been able to control situations that may be unwarranted but at the same time might have created openings for hoodlums around town to go about killing people unnecessarily.”
Among other prayers, he asked the Senate to secure the release of Maiwada Galadima, the paramount ruler of Agom Adara, who was abducted.

Contributing, an obviously angry Mr Laah blamed Mr El-Rufai for the crisis, saying the governor did not discharge his responsibility to satisfaction.
He said, “In the first place, I noticed that the governor is out of town. Was he supposed to leave without leaving responsibility to the deputy? What for? We are all human beings. You should look at people like they don’t know what they are doing. We are all human beings, I don’t differentiate. I want things to be done in the rightful way.
“All these happenings in Kaduna State is caused by the Governor of Kaduna State because he is not putting all the necessary measures in place. The responsibility, he leaves them all. It is not compulsory to vote somebody. I can vote somebody if I want and he is not working, he should leave there.
“We are observing and always watching why is he still asking the federal government to give him money? Is he the only governor who has damages. He is looking for the money that he would be giving out. If you don’t have time for the human begins. We cannot allow that to remain.”
Mr Laah was supported by Nasarawa North senator, Aruwa Gyunka, who insinuated the governor was aware of impending crisis before travelling.
“Coming down to Kaduna, the governor is not supposed to travel without taking permission. He is not supposed to travel without letting the House of Assembly know that he is travelling, yet he travelled.
“This is a calculated attempt, probably he perceived something and that is why he travelled and he quickly ran out. When he came in what has he done. These are issues we need to ask and Nigerians need to know.”
Kaduna Central senator, Shehu Sani, urged the federal government to assist victims of the crisis with aid materials.
“This senate should come out strongly with a condemnation of this violence and also insist on the need for people to stand up to this occasion. I will use this opportunity to call on the federal government to intervene in terms of aids to assist those who fell victim to this crisis,” he said.
Adopting the prayers, the lawmakers resolved to pay a special condolence visit to the affected communities while calling on Kaduna State and federal governments to quicken the process on the release of the paramount ruler, Mr Galadima.

The senators also urged relevant security agencies to investigate the causes of the incident with a view to bringing the perpetrators to justice as well as providing permanent measure for stopping such from happening in future.
In his comment, the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, proposed a special sitting of the Senate to look into the recent security challenges.
“I will suggest that we pick a date in the next sitting to really discuss and ask ourselves why this is happening. Contribution of most people is that majority cause of this is the fact that people have not been called to sanction. We need to find a day where we’ll review the security situation,” he said.
His suggestion however was objected to by Senate Leader, Ahmed Lawan, who suggested the lawmakers engage the executive on resolutions passed in the past.
The lawmakers resolved to assign chairmen of relevant committees to have a session with the executive.
Source:PREMIUM TIMES