Senate Committee Begins Investigations into Southern Kaduna Crisis

John Shiklam in Kaduna

The six-man ad hoc committee set up by the Senate to investigate the crisis in the southern part of Kaduna State has called for the cooperation of all stakeholders in the area to find solution to the problem.

Speaking during a visit to the state Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, the Chairman of the committee, Senator Kabiru Gaya, said the essence of the visit was base on a motion by the Senate on the crisis in Southern Kaduna.

“ The Senate decided to send this delegation to investigate and also find solution to peace. Our mission is to interact, discuss with the stakeholders, the government, security agencies and hear from them and find out which way forward,” Gaya said.

He said the committee would meet with stakeholders in Southern Kaduna after which another meeting would be held with the governor and your executives.

“We intend to have a town hall meeting with stakeholders, Kaduna in particular is a centre of northern Nigeria, if there is peace in Kaduna, there would be peace everywhere.

“I believe the governor is equal to the task, but we need the cooperation of all the stakeholders in this state to assist the governor and the people to have peace,” Gaya said.

He expressed optimism that with the cooperation of the people of Southern Kaduna, peace would be achieved, stressing that without peace, there cannot be any development in the area.

The committee also appealed to well meaning Nigerians to work towards peace inthe area and make life better for people of the area.

He also advised the state government to frequently organise town mall meetings among communities where people would speak out their minds, stressing that by so doing, it would bring about understanding among the diverse ethnic groups in the southern part of the state.

Briefing the committee on the crisis, El-Rufai thanked the committee for considering the crisis of sufficient importance and gravity to constitute such a committee, saying his administration inherited three security problems – cattle rustling, urban gang called “Shara Suka” and communal killings.

He said part of the reasons why the Southern Kaduna crisis had continued unabated was because nobody has been arrested and punished for the series of crises that had rocked the state in the past 35 years.

He disclosed that the state government had invested about N4 billion on security in its efforts to address the challenges by purchasing vehicles and bullet proof vests to security agencies.