Southern Kaduna: Osibanjo to meet warring communities

The Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, is to meet with all the parties in the Southern Kaduna crisis to have a better understanding of the issues with a view to evolving a lasting solution to the crisis in the area.

Osinbajo was in Kaduna yesterday to inspect work on the international airport ahead of the closure of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, but took time to meet with leaders of various groups on the crisis.

After listening to the four major groups-the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), the Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI), the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) and the affected communities, Osinbajo said it was not possible to understand and proffer solutions to the problem through one meeting and suggested a phased approach that would engage all stakeholders.

He said: “I would 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...”

The Governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir el-Rufa’I, thanked Osinbajo for taking time to inspect the airport and making out time to engage leaders from the areas of conflict.

The state CAN chairman, Rev. George Dodo, said those behind the violence should be apprehended and brought to book while the representative of JNI, Alhaji Sanusi Maikudi, blamed the crisis on failure of past regimes to act on the recommendations of commissions of inquiry.

The Agwon Atakat, Chief Tobias Nkonwada, said the happenings in Southern Kaduna were not war but a series of attacks on people at night.