Osinbajo calls for Peaceful coexistence in Southern Kaduna and said violence will not solve it

The acting President was in Kaduna to assess the level of progress at the Kaduna International Airport ahead of the proposed diversion of flights from the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja to Kaduna. He had earlier directed the state governor, Nasir Ahmad El-Refai to convene the meeting of the stakeholders, which had in attendance, representatives of the religious bodies, traditional institutions and ethnic groups, as well as representatives of Fulani community.

Acting President Osinbajo, in his response after listening to presentations from stakeholders said, it was unfortunate that, bloodletting had been allowed to happen, which he restated, was making the crisis difficult to end.

According to him, bloodletting, as it has been established by the holy book, is a bad omen, which brings about bitterness and hatred. Professor Osinbajo, who told the stakeholders that he had taken enough security briefing on the Southern Kaduna crisis, noted that, violence, enmity and hate cannot solve the problem, but process of peace building must commence to gradually put a stop to the crisis.
He said, “I will like to begin a discussion on the very terrible crisis that has gone on for a while in Southern Kaduna. Let me say first that there is no question at all that many have suffered, families have lost loved ones, a lot of bloodletting has taken place in Southern Kaduna in the past few weeks and I want to express my sincere condolence to all of those who have lost families and friends and who have been traumatised by the terrible things that have been going on in Southern Kaduna in the past few months. “But I must say there’s no question whatsoever that violence would never stop any of the problems we are experiencing today, there’s no way we will resolve it that way.
“On this matter, I have read documents;  quite a few of the reports, as a matter of fact,  I have tried very hard to study the crisis in Southern Kaduna, personally, I have read quite a few documents including reports of past crises; recently, I have taken briefings from the service chiefs a couple of days ago  on what is going and since I got in today, I am also taking briefing form some of the senior officials of the armed forces and state security.
“And I want to say that I don’t want us to be in a hurry, I am certainly not in a hurry because I don’t believe that a crisis where there is so much bloodletting and hatred over the years can be resolved by a couple of meetings, no, I don’t believe that is possible. “I have talked to his Excellency the governor, that what I would like to achieve,  is not a quick fix but I want us to begin a process and I want to be a part of that process that will listen to each group separately and then get everyone together. “And I want us to respect those who have lost their lives that we are not trying to fix something quick, we are not trying to resolve it now however it is resolved and pretend all is well.
We will take our time and  as I said, to sift through whatever is required, so we can find a proper and lasting solution”.
On his part, Kaduna State governor, Malam Nasir El-rufai thanked the president for taking time to inspect state of readiness of the Kaduna
airport and making out time in light of security challenges in the state to engage security leaders from the areas of conflict.
El-Rufai said, “Ladies and gentlemen that we invited here, I will like to say that you are here on the invitation of the vice president. There are some who were not invited for the reasons that they know, because, we suspect they are behind some of these problems and we do not intend as state government to give legitimacy to anyone under investigation for being behind some of these problems.
Chairman, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Kaduna State chapter, Rev. George Dodo thanked the acting president and the state governor for their intervention in finding lasting peace in Southern Kaduna and prayed that those behind the violence would be apprehended and brought to  book.
Representative of Jamatul Nasril Islam (JNI) in Kaduna State, Alhaji Sanusi Maikudi blamed the crisis on the inability of the previous government to fish out those behind the crisis and failure to act on the recommendations of commissions of inquiry.
He said the night attacks on communities started in Jaba local government of the state as result of the fallout of the 2011 post election, violence where he said report documented that 80 percent of the persons killed were from Southern Kaduna and 35, Muslims were displaced in 18 communities and that only 5 percent have been able to return.

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