• Amnesty International deplores FG’s failed promises to end carnage

Presidcential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, and leaders of the Southern Kaduna Peoples’ Union (SOKAPU) have condemned the latest killings of 30 persons in Southern Kaduna, calling for urgent measures to halt the recurring attacks and protect vulnerable communities.

This comes as no fewer than 30 people were reported killed when gunmen attacked Narido Village in the Kauru Local Council Area of Kaduna State at about 1 am yesterday and opened fire indiscriminately at residents.

Atiku described the killings as “heartbreaking and unacceptable,” saying the continued loss of innocent lives reflected the federal government’s failure to protect Nigerians adequately.

In the same vein, SOKAPU urged the Kaduna State Police Command to take immediate and decisive action to halt the escalating killings, abductions and destruction of farmlands across Southern Kaduna.

Also, Amnesty International in a statement said the attackers pursued dozens of people who tried to escape into the bush and killed them.

It noted that though President Bola Tinubu claims he has repeatedly tasked security agencies to end the killings so that rural communities can go to bed with their eyes closed, “clearly nothing has changed.

The former vice president noted that no government could claim meaningful progress while citizens continued to be killed in their homes and communities.

He also criticised what he described as the attention being given by senior government officials to an unverified claim of a letter of commendation from the United States (U.S.), allegedly lobbying against President Bola Tinubu’s administration, insisting that the priority should be protecting lives and preventing further bloodshed.

Atiku further called for a comprehensive review of the country’s security architecture and stronger measures to safeguard communities being repeatedly targeted by armed attackers.

In an open letter dated July 27 and addressed to the Commissioner of Police, Kaduna State Command, SOKAPU President, Tabara Samuel Kato, expressed concern at the worsening security situation in rural and farming communities.
The association said its appeal followed the early morning attack on the Narido community in the Kauru Local Council Area, where about 30 people, including women and children, were reportedly killed, while several others sustained injuries.

SOKAPU noted that the attack occurred despite repeated security assurances and ongoing engagements, warning that residents of Kajuru, Chikun, Kauru and Zangon Kataf local councils have continued to live in fear.

Noting that many families had been displaced from their ancestral communities, while armed criminal groups allegedly operated with increasing audacity, the association called for a shift from what it described as reactive security responses to proactive, intelligence-driven policing.

Among other demands, SOKAPU urged the immediate deployment of mobile police and counter-terrorism units to vulnerable communities and forest corridors, intensified intelligence-led operations to dismantle criminal camps, and sustained security patrols around farming communities to enable farmers to cultivate and harvest their crops without fear.

According to Amnesty International, “The community has declared many people missing, and efforts are ongoing to ascertain the number of people killed, while more dead bodies are being discovered within homes and nearby farms.”

It added: “Gory images obtained by Amnesty International show entire families locked up and slaughtered inside their bedrooms. Children had their throats slit and their heads left with massive cuts. There was blood on beds, in kitchens and on the trails of those bleeding while trying to escape.”

According to Amnesty International, the attack may be one of the deadliest recorded in villages in southern Kaduna, where some villages had experienced similar attacks over five times.

The “spate of these killings is evidence of failure of authorities to protect the people. The inability of authorities to bring attackers to justice is fueling impunity,” it added.