The Middle Belt Forum (MBF),  representing the ethnic nationalities of the Middle Belt region has dismissed the threat of legal action against the Minister of Defence, General Christopher Musa by the former Governor of Kaduna, Nasir El-Rufai’s family over the atrocities committed under his government, saying that rather the Ex-Governor be ready to face prosecution over alleged heinous crimes against humanity in the State at the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The officials of the MBF who addressed a press conference in Kaduna, said that the minister of Defence has not said anything new about the alleged atrocities committed by the El-Rufai’s government under the 8-year rule.

According to the the Spokesman of the MBF, Luka Binniyat and other leaders while addressing Journalists, “it is now the right time to Prosecute the former Governor El-Rufai at the International Court for the various crime committed under his administration”.

Binniyat said, “we are here to speak about the controversy that followed the remarks of the Minister of Defence, Gen. Christopher Gwabin Musa (rtd), during his appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today on September 3, 2026″, noting that “the Minister said we can never be happy with somebody who has deliberately planned for the killing of our people.”

 “The Minister was referring to the administration of former Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai in Kaduna under his government where heinous crimes were committed against Southern Kaduna, the Shiites and other people in the State. General Musa further alleged that el-Rufai had admitted paying bandits and that there were videos and public statements to support the claim”, he said.

Binniyat remarked that “but the Middle Belt Forum is not here merely to repeat the Minister’s allegations. We are here to say that the historical record of Kaduna State under el-Rufai provides enough evidence to support the claims of the retired four star General. The MBF is not a mouthpiece for Gen. Musa. We are speaking as witnesses to what happened in Kaduna State during that period since Southern Kaduna is part of the Middle Belt.”

Speaking on claims that el-Rufai Inherited Violence in the State, Binniyat said, “we reject the argument that violence in Kaduna did not begin with el-Rufai as an excuse for his villainy”.

 “Yes, Kaduna had experienced occasional communal and religious conflicts before 2015. There was the Kasuwan Magani crisis, the Zangon Kataf crisis, the College of Education crisis and the violence that followed the introduction of Sharia and the 2011 presidential election. There were also Boko Haram attacks, including the 2012 bombing of a church in Kaduna.
These conflicts had identifiable causes. And they were few and far in between and urban based”, he explained.

He said, “but what changed under el-Rufai was deliberate targeting of peaceful vulnerable rural communities for annihilation which his actions and utterances encouraged. Communities in Southern Kaduna and other parts of Kaduna state were repeatedly attacked. Villages were burnt, people were killed and thousands were displaced.”

 Besides, Binniyat argued, “arresting leaders of victims while killers roam free the General fear of many affected communities was not simply that attacks occurred. It was that government’s shocking speed  to arrest community leaders and traditional rulers whose communities had been destroyed and people killed rather than apprehending the well known Fulani militia and their leaders responsible for the attacks”.

He listed areas where atrocities were committed under El-Rufai’s government in the State, saying “in 2016, a community called Goska, in Kaninkon Chiefdom, Jemma Local Government Area was attacked. Several people were killed and homes razed. Instead of going for the killers, el-Rufai arrested the District Head, Moses Barde and put him in prison, ” adding that the same senerio were observed in other places.

“On March 11, Inkirimi and Dogonnoma were attacked, with reports of 52 people killed and about 100 houses destroyed.

These were not isolated incidents.

The Middle Belt Forum holds el-Rufai responsible for stocking the killing and encouraging the killers by taking no action whatsoever against them. The Shiite Genocide”, he stressed.

Binniyat remarked further, “when Generàl Musa said, ‘our people’, he meant every victim of el-Rufai’s tyranny that were residents or indigenes of Kaduna State.
That includes the Shiite who were murdered in cold blood in December 2015. el-Rufai  defended the massacre of the over 1000 Shiite in Zaria. He ordered the arrest of their leaders and clamped hundreds of them in Kaduna prison, incident minors.”