Prosecute people caught with arms –Coalition
People arrested with arms in Kafanchan, Kwoi and Ladduga in Kaduna State should be prosecuted if the government is serious about stemming the frequent attacks in Southern Kaduna, a coalition of community development associations, civil society and non-governmental organizations said yesterday.
Speaking at a press conference in Kaduna, the coordinator of the groups made up of SOKAPU, Gurara Forum, farmers association, lawyers and Southern Kaduna Women’s Forum, Barr Zakari Sogfa, said if the Kaduna State government does not prosecute those arrested with arms, they would have no option than to take it to the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague.
“While we note that since the early 1980s there have been sporadic attacks on the people of Southern Kaduna, the present state of generalized warfare and genocide intensified from 2011 against the people of Southern Kaduna. The main characteristic of the on-going assaults on our communities is that they are carefully planned, organized and executed with heartless viciousness and on incremental bases. Between 1981 and 2010 there were 16 incidences of such attacks. However, between 2011 and 2014, over a period of just 4 years, 37 of such attacks have been
launched against our hospitable, accommodating, peaceful and law abiding communities,” the group said. The coalition noted that in most of the affected communities, women and children had been killed and brutally murdered.