News Editor
… Several communities mentioned in the warning have already come under attacks by terrorists
…State of emergency long overdue for Kaduna state, Says SOKAPU
By Steven Kefas
TMSnews investigation has revealed that despite warnings of impending attacks across some communities in Southern Kaduna, Nigeria security agencies once again refused to protect the lives and properties of citizens of the area.
On 28th of March 2022, a WhatsApp audio message, warning some communities in Southern Kaduna to be on red alert over plans by terrorists to launch attacks against them. The audio message which went viral for several days gave specifics of areas the terrorists were planning to attack.
This is not the first time communities in Southern Kaduna are warned prior to attacks even though most times the attacks still happen despite the early warnings as security agencies do not only ignore but some times watch the other way as citizens of the area are massacred, maimed, raped, kidnapped and their properties destroyed.
The audio message which was recorded by an unknown voice in Hausa language warned that communities in Kachia especially surrounding the newly established Nok university will be attacked. It also mentioned Angwan Rimi, Zankang and fresh attacks in Zangon Kataf local government area.
Barely 24 hours after the audio message hit the social media, Ungwan Bulus Community of Zaman Dabo Ward, Atyap Chiefdom in Zangon Kataf Local Government area was attacked by terrorists suspected to be Fulani herdsmen militias. Six people were confirmed killed during the attack.
On 30th March, there was tension in Zankang and environs as residents said armed terrorists were sighted in the area.
Communities in Kachia local government area including the Ham (Jaba) speaking communities that have never experienced such attacks also began to witness same as mentioned in the warning audio message.
On 31st of March 2022 three communities of Aburon, Mai’ido Rafi and Ankuwa were attacked by terrorists in Kachia local government area. At least 12 villagers were killed while many were abducted. Eyewitnesses told this newspaper that the military were on ground during the attack but chose not to engage the terrorists who were armed to the teeth.
TMSnews gathered that since the warning audio message went viral, over a dozen communities have been ransacked by terrorists in Kagarko, Kachia and Zangon Kataf local government areas with at least 20 people killed and dozens abducted.
This newspaper also spoke to the Southern Kaduna Peoples Union (SOKAPU) and the sociocultural group said the situation in the state is rather unfortunate and disturbing as they suspect a conspiracy between the political elites and the security agencies operating in the state.
Luka Binniyat, the spokesman of the group has this to say; “We in SOKAPU believe that there exist a conspiracy between the political elites both at the state and federal level and also the top echelon of the police, the military and other paramilitary forces.
“How would you explain that intelligence of impending attacks will circulate the social media yet the attacks will eventually come to past without any effort from the security forces?
“The people to give command for such attacks to be averted often times do not see the need to do so thereby abandoning the communities to their fates .
“And these terrorists are not ghosts, remember governor Elrufai, last week said they know where the terrorists are.” Binnyat said.
Binniyat further lamented that despite the number of security institutions situated in Kaduna state, the state remains the most terrorised state in the country at the moment.
“The fact that Kaduna state is surrounded by security institutions and formations and this insecurity has continued to linger shows that all the security institutions in the state are just symbolic.
“Even the military is also as vulnerable as the civilians. Their facilities too are being attacked. If soldiers could be attacked, killed, their armoured vehicles destroyed and their weapons seized by these terrorists then it goes a long way to show how hopeless the situation is.” He said.
The SOKAPU spokesman also said that the heightening insecurity in the country might be a ploy to retain power in Northern Nigeria beyond 2023.
“We in SOKAPU also believe that the growing insecurity and the government’s lackadaisical handling of the issue could be a ploy for something bigger.
“The insecurity may have been allowed to fester so that the country becomes ungovernable and birth a situation where elections may not hold and if elections do not hold, of course the military might step in and another Fulani general may be installed to takeover from Buhari. That would prevent power from shifting southward.
“Remember the predictions of the late Dr Obadiah Mailafia about a civil war, about the terrorists coming to attack cities. All what he predicted are already manifesting and if care is not taking, these terrorists will ignite a civil war in the country.” He said.
When asked if SOKAPU supports the call for a state of emergency be declared in Kaduna state, Binniya answered in the affirmative.
“We in SOKAPU have always support the call for state of emergency, we have made such calls in the past and the current situation makes the declaration of a state of emergency a necessity but the President will not do so because he is sympathetic to the Fulani governor in the state.
“The president is not sympathetic to the citizens that are being killed daily. That is why he has never visited the state to sympathize with those whose loved ones are being killed unjustly but could visit to commission projects.” He said.
TMSnews also reached out to a serving military commander in Kaduna state who agreed to speak but on condition of strict anonymity. The commander who has been in the forefront of the war against terrorists in the state told this reporter that ‘some things are better left unsaid’.
“My brother, some things are better left unsaid for peace to reign. In this our job we see so many strange things on the field daily.
“These criminals are not more powerful than us but most times we get sabotaged during operations and sometimes we get strange orders telling us not to engage them.
“What would you do if your superior orders you not to shoot a bullet? Am sure you understand that our job is a job of orders. They say go, you go, come, you come and you dare not question why.” He lamented.
This further confirms the position of a former chief of Army staff, Lieutenant General Theophilus Danjuma (retd) that the Nigerian military is colluding with terrorists to kill citizens.
“The armed forces are not neutral; they collude with the armed bandits that kill people, kill Nigerians. They facilitate their movement. They cover them. If you are depending on the Armed Forces to stop the killings, you will all die one by one.” Danjuma said during a program at the Taraba state university in 2018.
