Southern Kaduna Killings Threat To Peace In Nigeria - Shehu Sani

A former Senator, who represented Kaduna Central senatorial district, Shehu Sani, has warned that the killings in the southern part of Kaduna State is a threat to the peaceful coexistence in Nigeria.

Sani said this yesterday in Kaduna when he visited the secretariat of the Southern Kaduna Peoples Union (SOKAPU), an umbrella body for ethnic nationalities in the southern part of the state.

A statement issued by the spokesman of SOKAPU, Luka Binniyat, after the visit, quoted Sani as saying that the killings in Southern Kaduna have polarised Nigerians along ethno-religious lines.

He warned that the killings in Kaduna should not be the seed that will lead to the destruction of Nigeria.

“It is very clear that Muslims outside of Kaduna State are aligning with the Muslims in the state, the same thing with the Christians.

“Let Kaduna State not be the seed of destruction of Nigeria. If Mustapha is killed, Christopher must condemn the killing of Mustapha, so also if Christopher is killed, Mustapha must condemn his killing outright, but if you try to justify and rationalise the killing of Mustapha, you’re already in league with the killers,” the statement quoted him.

The former senator said: “Whenever people faced cruelty, genocide, massacre and all kinds of atrocities, it is the moral duty of every man of conscience to lend his voice.”

Sani said he had condemned the killings in Birnin Gwari in Kaduna State as well as Zamfara, Sokoto, Katsina, Niger , Taraba, Borno and Benue States among others.

He said both Muslims and Christians must come out to condemn evil whenever it is perpetrated against the other.

“You can’t rationalise or give excuses for an act of genocide, cruelty, mass murder and execution of human beings…

“If you’re a Christian or Muslim in Southern Kaduna, your voice must be heard clearly, explicitly and unambiguously in condemning the ongoing killings.

“We must not shy away from the truth, because silence and rationalisation of such attacks show that you’re in league with banditry and terrorism,” Sani was quoted to have said.

He urged SOKAPU not to waver or falter in its struggle, adding: “You must not give up in standing and speaking for truth to power…”

The ex-lawmaker said the people of both southern and northern parts of Kaduna State may end up fighting each other if they don’t unite against terrorists.

Sani said: “When there is a systematic targeting of certain people, say it as it is. It is incumbent for those in Southern Kaduna and Northern Kaduna to know that if we don’t unite to fight these terrorists, we’ll end up fighting ourselves.

“The people of Southern Kaduna have no other place to go. You’re African indigenous people.”