The Kaduna
State Government and the Igbo community leaders yesterday condemned
reports of an attack on the Igbos relocating to eastern states following the October 1 ultimatum given by northern youths.
reports of an attack on the Igbos relocating to eastern states following the October 1 ultimatum given by northern youths.
The
government officials, top security personnel and Igbo leaders in the state,
while addressing journalists, debunked inciting pictures and audio messages
circulating in the state on how several Igbos retuning to the Southeast were
allegedly ambushed in a luxurious bus conveying them.
The Senior
Assistance on Media and Publicity to Governor Nasir El-Rufai, Samuel Aruwan,
and Igbo leaders, led by the President of Igbo Community Welfare Association,
Chief Chris Nnoli, quickly moved to avert the consequences the unverified
report could generate.
Aruwan said:
“The attention of Kaduna State Government has been drawn to an inciting picture
and audio message stating that some Igbos relocating to eastern Nigeria were
ambushed and killed in Kaduna State.
“The man
behind the mischievous narrative, who also claimed to be at the scene, went on
to lie that the attackers slaughtered Igbos, including women and children, and
that their corpses were burnt along with the luxurious bus.
“The
so-called eyewitness then appealed to all Igbos residing in Kaduna and the rest
of the North to relocate to their states of origin and to also avoid travelling
en-masse, considering mass killings that await them in the north.
“It is clear
that some dark forces are bent on sowing and creating panic in our
communities.”On the stand of the state government, Aruwan said: “As you can
see, we are here with the leadership of the Igbo community in Kaduna, Zaria,
Kafanchan and other places.
“The story
is entirely false and mischievous. The Igbo community is safe, like all our
communities. Nobody is being attacked and nobody is relocating in fear. “The
Kaduna State Government under the leadership of El-Rufai will continue to
uphold and defend the rights of every resident of the state to live in peace.
Our state is a safe place for all that choose to call it home.”
Besides,
Nnoli urged all Igbos resident in the state to disregard the rumour, assuring
that no Igbo man, woman or children were attacked in the state.He called on
Igbo community in the state not to panic, urging them to go about their
legitimate activities in Kaduna State.
Meanwhile,
members of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN)
have said unknown gunmen have attacked and amputated a Fulani herdsman, thereby
threatening the fragile peace in the area.
Addressing a
press conference in Kaduna, yesterday, state Chairman of MACBAN, Alhaji Haruna
Usman Tugga, said the attack was a setback to the prevailing peace in the
area.Tugga gave the name of the amputee as Abubakar Muhammed, who he noted was
migrating from Panda village in Nasarawa State to Kachia in Southern Kaduna
when he was attacked by youths from Maho village under Mazuga district.
He stated:
“They attacked him along a migratory stock route for reasons best known to the
attackers and amputated his left hand and left him bleeding in a pool of his
blood. “He was picked by a Good Samaritan to a private hospital in Kachia town,
where he is presently receiving medical attention.
“We condemn
this inhuman and barbaric act. We are also calling on our people to be calm and
law- abiding. We call on the security agencies to investigate the matter and
apprehend the attackers.”
As part of
efforts to promote religious harmony and peaceful coexistence in the state, the
Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) Church on Lemu road, Kaduna, has
distributed food items to Muslims within their host community in Tudun Nupawa
in the spirit of the Ramadan season.
Rev.
Jonathan Emmanuel, while making the distribution, said it has always been
annual and is normally carried out during the Ramadan period to assist Muslim
faithful during their fast.“This is our way of showing love to our neighbours
during this period of fasting. We hope to sustain it on a yearly basis, God willing.
“What we are
distributing to them may be small, but it is a show of our togetherness and
love and as a way of fostering religious harmony and peaceful coexistence.”
Responding
on behalf of the beneficiaries, the village head of Tudun Nupawa, Alhaji Shuaibu
Balarabe Abdullahi, commended the church for annually remembering them,
particularly during the Ramadan fast, with food items.
He prayed
God to bless the church and assured them of an enabling environment for them to
worship their God now and always without any form of molestation from anybody
or group.
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