16 Kasuwan Magani: How love affair set a community ablaze
The signs were there quite early in the day for residents of Kasuwan Magani, a bubbly commercial town about 40 kilometers to Kaduna to have sensed that something ominous was looming.
Kasuwan Magani, popular because of its Thursday market, is populated by the Adara ethnic group and the Hausa who have been living together for ages.
The town, according to Yakubu Umar Barde, the House of Representatives member representing Chikun/Kajuru federal constituency, has the largest weekly market in Kaduna State and brings together a mixture of all shades of Nigerians for economic activities.
The first incident, which led to unease in Kasuwan Magani, was said to have occurred exactly two weeks to the fateful Monday when the whole town erupted in violence.
The incident occurred when some Hausa youths after retiring from work in the evening put their resources together and invited some girls who happened to be mainly from the Adara ethnic group to join them for an outing.
Outing comprises of eating noodles at a local joint, having drinks and relaxing at a nearby hotel.
As this was going on, the Adara youths got wind of what was happening and quickly mobilised to stop what they say was an assault on their girls.
They accosted the Hausa youths who they accused of hiding their (Hausa) girls but are always trying to seduce theirs. In the course of the exchange and in their bid to free the girls, a fight ensued. Elders of the community who were informed of what was going on moved in quickly and intervened.
They succeeded in dispersing the youths after which elders from the two sides held a meeting which lasted into the night and resolved to follow up by cautioning the youths.
However, as many observers noted, the tension created by that incident persisted until Monday when a tiny spark incensed the entire community.
This time, the community was not that lucky as within the spate of three hours, 10 people lay dead, about 20 others were wounded and nearly a hundred shops were burnt.
The number of death by the second day rose to 12.
There was complete mayhem, as travelers had to make detours because they could not pass through the town while the violence lasted. Several cars were also torched.
One of the community leaders, Alhaji Bako Kajuru, who narrated what happened, said the fight started when it was discovered after the meeting with the elders that an Adara girl had been living with her Hausa fiancé for over a week.
He said when the previous incident happened, part of the agreement reached was that Muslims who marry Christian girls should no longer divorce them after few years.
“They alleged that many of our people marry their girls and convert them to Islam and after about two years, they divorce them leaving them stranded so they said they want us to reach an agreement that that practice should stop.
“They also said all the girls not married should return to their homes but in this particular case, the young man who one of the girls was staying with said he would not allow her go back to her parent’s house as he wants to marry her. So when the Adara youths came to take the girl back, the Hausa youths mobilized to stop them and a fight ensued,” he said.
He said the man popularly known as ‘Perry’ has since left the community.
National President of Adara Development Association, Awemi D Maisamari, said the crisis has nothing to do with religion.
He said the crisis erupted when some Christian youths were trying to discipline some Christian girls for being wayward, explaining that it was when one the girls was being taken to where she would serve her punishment that she escaped into a house belonging to a Hausa man.
“The youths then demanded for the girl but the Hausa man refused to release her. When the youths persisted, the people ganged up and chased the Christian youths away. Afterwards, they started burning and looting Christian homes and hotels,” he said.
Maisamari said the Adara youths reacted when they saw the level of destruction, which led to the crisis that engulfed the town for three hours on Monday.
“There was nothing like conversion; it was not a religious issue. She’s a Christian girl and was about to be disciplined by Christian youth who were frowning at sexual immorality,” he stressed.
Many of the residents say but for the quick intervention of security agencies and the state government, the crisis would have spread to neighbouring communities.
Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai, on Monday, directed the prosecution of all persons responsible for the mayhem and asked security agencies to investigate the incident, arrest and make available for prosecution the perpetrators.
The State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) was also directed to take inventory of damages and provide relief materials with immediate effect.
Security agencies on the second day arrested 18 persons in connection with the mayhem.
A security team led by the General Officer Commanding I Division Nigerian Army, Major General Mohammed Mohammed, and included the Commissioner of Police Austin Iwar; State Director of Department of State Services, Mohammed Wakil; Commander Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, AM Bunu; Special Adviser on Internal Security, Col. Yakubu Yusuf (rtd), and Samuel Aruwan, Senior Special Assistant, Media and Publicity also visited the town.
The Commissioner of Police, Mr. Austin Iwar, said the 18 persons are undergoing interrogation while security presence is being strengthened in the area.
By Wednesday morning, calm has returned to the area though there was a clash in one of the villages on Tuesday.
Kajuru said few traders came to the market on Thursday but expressed happiness that things were beginning to pick up.
A team headed by Pastor Yohanna Buru, National President Peace Revival and Reconciliation Foundation of Nigeria, also visited the place.
“I’m begging both the Muslims and Christians in the area to forgive each other because our holy books taught us to forgive, and for us to live in peace and harmony we must forgive each other,” he said.
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and Jama’atul Nasril Islam (JNI) also appealed to residents of the area to live in peace and harmony.
Barde commended what he said was the timely intervention of law enforcement agencies.
He said, “I am also glad that Governor el-Rufai has asked SEMA to supply relief materials to affected persons and also directed that all culprits be brought to book.
“I therefore want to use this avenue to express my profound displeasure over the wanton destruction of lives and property in that town. I condemn all acts of violence directed at any person or group irrespective of gender, religion or tribe.”
The Southern Kaduna Peoples Union (SOKAPU) also sympathized with the people.
Part of the statement from the union read, “The time has come for the security agencies to develop capacity to protect and defend people, and to do so in an impartial manner.”