By Ibrahim Hassan-Wuyo, Kaduna

THERE seems to be no agreement between the Kaduna State Governor and some communities located along the dreaded Kaduna-Abuja Highway where thousands of innocent persons have been kidnapped or killed in recent years. 

The communities: Katari, Akilibu and Rijana  are believed to be harbouring undesirable elements terrorising the areas, wreaking havoc and creating fear and confusion in the process. Apparently worried by the dangers occasioned by bandits and terrorists lurking in the wooded area, the Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai, recently indicated that the three communities could be cleared and the inhabitants relocated to other places to reduce the incidents of kidnapping and killings. The governor predicated his plan on the facts and figures made available to him, which indicate a frightening dimension of crimes orchestrated by bandits and terrorists in the affected communities. El-Rufai also felt bad that the communities were complicit in the high rate of killings, kidnapping and robberies that have continued to rise despite the deployment of security agencies to counter the attacks. 

The report which rattled the governor had indicated that no fewer than 360 persons were killed and 1,389 others kidnapped in the state between January and March 2022, while Boko Haram, ISWAP and Ansaru terrorists have abandoned Sambisa forests in the North-East for Kaduna forests where they were recruiting young locals into terrorism. The governor raised the alarm that if nothing urgent was done about the infiltration of the state by evil merchants, the state could be in a more dangerous situation than what is happening in the North-East.  

According  to El-Rufai, there is a potential danger in the emergence of Boko Haram and Ansaru terrorists, particularly in Birnin Gwari and Chikun local government areas of the state if nothing is done about their activities in the communities. He also expressed concern over the wanton use of improvised explosive devices and mines in the state, creating a conducive atmosphere for bandits and terrorists.  

The governor said: “I noticed the continuous mention of Rijana, Katari and Akilibu axis in all these crimes, particularly as regards the safety or lack of it of Kaduna-Abuja road. We have been exploring what to do about these three communities; whether to relocate them to near Kagarko or to clear the three communities. I will like the security council to deliberate on it and look at the options.  

“There is something wrong with the Rijana, Katari axis and government should not refuse to do anything. We have to look at the options, including the clearance of the settlements completely and relocation of the people to where other more honest people can watch them,” he said.  

However, the governor’s anticipated action has not gone down well with the leaders and members of the affected communities, who strongly protested that they have been wrongly profiled and accused of wrongdoing when they have not done anything to warrant such negative appellation.  

The Chairman of the communities suspected to be harbouring the criminals, Mr. Magaji Danjuma Katari, said that with the claim made by the governor, the impression has been given that the three communities  were working with bandits to carry out attacks on motorists plying the road.  Katari said it was unfortunate for such a statement to be made against the communities without any credible evidence to back it up. “Lamentably, our communities being law abiding and forward looking social entities are miffed and appalled by the aforementioned unsavory pronouncements because they are inherently very damaging, injurious, misleading and volatile,” Katari said.   “We deem it very compelling to make the following observations and recommendations in the overriding interest of clarity, probity and mutual understanding by the discerning public and other relevant authorities,” he said.  

Magaji explained that the communities were not aware of the involvement of any of their members either directly or indirectly in any verifiable cases of banditry within and outside their communities. 

“For instance, the recent terrorist attack on an Abuja – Kaduna bound passenger train which occurred at a location close to Dutse village near Olam Farms within the precincts of Kaduna town was deliberately twisted by many media houses both local and foreign to suggest that it occurred between Katari and Rijana villages. Some media houses and online news platforms specifically ascribed it to Katari village. In fact, there are several other instances of media misrepresentation of criminal occurrences on the Abuja – Kaduna highway too numerous to mention here in which our communities were willfully implicated either out of sheer ignorance or pure sinister motives. 

“Regrettably, the minds of many gullible members of the public have been conditioned to believe that every criminal occurrence on this highway is the handiwork of indigenes of either Katari, Akilbu or Rijana.  

“Contrary to the induced negative narratives from questionable sources and one-sided news vendors, the inhabitants of these communities have severally been on the receiving end of banditry. Records abound to show that many of our people have been kidnapped, raped, maimed or killed by these bandits or terrorists. “Shockingly, many of our farmers cannot access their farms these days while others have to pay levies to bandits before they could access their farms.  

“Presently, the village Head of Rijana (Mr. Ayuba Dodo Dakolo) and about 24 members of his community are in the hands of bandits. Similarly, 12  members of the Katari Community, including women and children, are also in the hands of bandits.  

“In April this year 2022, a former secretary to the defunct Akilbu District Mr. James Abu was gruesomely murdered by bandits on his farm. In the same vein, Martina John was kidnapped from Katari village, gruesomely murdered and her body dumped near Sabon Gayan in Chukun LGA of Kaduna State. Cases of such cold blooded murders of indigenes abound in our respective communities all perpetrated by bandits,” he said.  

It is worthy of note that the availability of large expanses of forests and rocky fortresses on the fringes of the three communities attracts the attention of bandits and terrorists from far who consider them as temporary hide-outs and escape routes to their permanent bases in Birnin Gwari and faraway Zamfara and Katsina states.

It is not clear if the plan will see the light of the day given the emerging disagreement between the Kaduna State government and the communities that are reportedly being troubled by bandits or are hobnobbing with terrorists.