Cleric identifies planners, executors of post-election mayhem

By LUKA BINNIYAT
Kaduna — A cleric, Apostle Emmanuel Nuhu Kure of the Throne Room Trust Ministry in Kafanchan, Kaduna State, has said Hausa/Fulani in the state had the fore-knowledge of the crises which came on the heels of last presidential election results.

He alleged that Hausa/Fulani moved out their families and their belongings before the mayhem which claimed no fewer than 800 lives in some states in the North started.

Kure, who was among the three Christian clerics that paid the controversial visit to the late President Umaru Yar’Adua in 2009 when his severe health condition was a matter of intense public interest, said that the post-election violence was premeditated, as according to him, the Hausa/Fulani planned and executed it.

Kure, an indigene  of Zonkwa, in the Zangon-Kataf Local Government Area, where the scale of the last crisis was much, also alleged that the Hausa/Fulani communities in southern Kaduna were aware of the impending bloodshed.

However, the Hausa/Fulani communities in the area have called for truce and asked the state government to mediate in the matter so that the Hausa/Fulani people would sign a peace treaty  with their host communities.

Kure, who addressed a news conference in Kafanchan, yesterday, said, “we would want to put the facts straight for the public and everyone to investigate. First, it is clear that the whole crisis was thoroughly pre-planned with logistics set out and lines of action and operation spelt out clearly.

“Otherwise, how would you explain a spontaneous call to prayer on most of the loudspeakers in the mosques across the city at the same time at 9pm or thereabout with a shout of Allah Akbar. Muslims began to troop towards the mosques and designated areas to be followed at 10pm with another call on loudspeakers.

Also, the Zonkwa community, in a statement, yesterday, alleged that in all conflicts that have involved Christians and Muslims in Kaduna State, Zonkwa had been shielded from the conflict as a result of the good inter-communal relationship the Hausa/Fulani and Bajju natives enjoyed.

In a statement signed by the National Chairman of Zonkwa Development Association, Mr. Francis Balat, the people said:“few days before the presidential election, we noticed  a lot of the Hausa/Fulani Muslims moving their families and packing their properties as well as moving their cattle out of our land.

“We also started seeing strange people in large numbers in their quarters with most sleeping inside their mosques.
“We saw them moving out in greater numbers a day before the violence broke out on the 11th of May. We believe that they knew of the attacks and never warned us.

The Chairman of the Hausa/Fulani community in southern Kaduna, Alhaji Abdullahi Jibrin, who spoke on the matter suggested that the leaders of the various tribes should sign a treaty to re-define how they would live together in view of the realities on the ground asking the state government to mediate immediately.

“If this is not possible, government should find other solutions that will avert future crisis,’’ he said.