Kaduna CP doubts El-Rufai’s casualty figures in Kajuru killings

Kaduna State Commissioner of Police, Ahmad Abdulrahman, has dissociated himself from Governor Nasir el-Rufai’s position that over 130 Fulani were killed recently in Kajuru community.

He told journalists in Kaduna yesterday that the police were still investigating the matter, adding that nobody could rely on the casualty figures posted by the governor.

“I told the governor that figures in a crisis of this magnitude should be left (unquoted) until all investigations have been concluded in all the areas where we are getting information from are covered.

“You cannot come up with a figure, otherwise you will quote a particular figure now and quote another later. This is what is happening now. As far as the police are concerned, we are investigating and the investigation is still in the embryonic stage.

Until we cover all the areas, we can’t quote any figure. As we speak, my men are still in the bush with humanitarian workers trying to find out the true position of things.

“The crisis occurred in a terrain full of conglomerate of hamlets, which were difficult to access with our vehicles. We are still uncovering areas where nobody had visited. We are now at the stage of c risis management, which is very delicate. That is why nobody should stampede our investigation,” he said.

Warning against anything that may further brew crisis in Kaduna, he remarked: “If the governor tells you that the casualty figure is 200, he is just quoting figures.

“It could be more than that or less. For example, the place where 36 people were said to have been buried was not at the purview of the security agencies at the commencement of the investigation.”

However, Kaduna State chapter of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has urged e-Rufai not to play politics with peoples lives, as it faulted the latest casualty figures of 130 death released by the governor.

The chairman, Rev. Joseph Hayab, told journalists in Kaduna that releasing such figure and linking it to a particular religious or ethnic group in the state would not promote peaceful coexistence, especially when the citizens were ready for election.

Hayab’s comments were on the heels of calls by the Muslim Youth Foundation Of Southern Kaduna (MYFOSKA) on the state government not to relent on ensuring that perpetrators of the killings in Kajuru were brought to book.

According to MYFOSKA, the youth wing of Southern Kaduna Muslims Ummah Development Association (SOKAMUDA), only true justice can end the recurring crisis in the area.

A statement issued by the group leader, Muhammed Bello, the group added that the entire Muslim Ummah in Southern Kaduna were worried with “the rising number of gruesome and unwarranted murder of members of its communities across various local communities in the state.”

The group alleged that “more than seven Fulani communities were attacked and destroyed, while over 120 people were slaughtered and the bodies burnt.