By Kenneth Ehigiator

LAGOS—Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State, yesterday, vowed to prosecute masterminds of the Southern Kaduna crisis, which have claimed lives and properties, adding that failure of law enforcement by successive governments in the state is responsible for the recurring nature of the crisis.

The governor, who spoke at an interactive session with newsmen in Lagos, said: “No one has been prosecuted by successive governments in the state since this crisis started 37 years ago, except the one that involved Zamani Lekwot.

“Remember Babangida’s government arrested Lekwot and some other persons for the same crisis; they were sentenced to die by hanging, but along the line, their sentences were converted to jail terms but the state government never prosecuted anybody since the problem started in 1980.”

Governor el-Rufai said his government would not fold its arms and allow those benefiting from the crisis to continue with their evil trade, noting that the crisis was not necessarily religious in nature, but largely ethnic.

Mallam El- Rufai

…on payment to herdsmen

On allegation of paying compensation to trans-border Fulani herdsmen affected by the post-election violence in 2011, the governor said his government merely implemented the recommendation of General Martin Luther Agwai’s panel set up by the administration of late Governor Patrick Yakowa.

He said the late governor’s death put paid to the process of enthroning lasting peace in the area, which his government had to embrace.

He noted that over a thousand herdsmen were killed during the post-election violence, adding that he decided to implement the recommendation to forestall further attacks on Southern Kaduna communities.

He said the crisis had continued to fester, even after the 32 warring communities in the area had signed the Southern Kaduna Peace Declaration in March 2016, because those profiting from it had not been dealt with.

el-Rufai said: “We arrested a lot of the sponsors of the crisis who are benefiting from it. We’ll place them before the court and if the judge chooses to free them, I would have done my own part of seeking to protect the people.”

Governor el-Rufai, who promised to release in two weeks a comprehensive report on the crisis since 1980, said the state government had actually articulated a three-prong solution to the crisis to finally nip it in the bud.

This, according to him, includes imposition of curfew to stabilise the area through deployment of a strong military presence, prosecution of masterminds and peace building.