The Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai and the senator representing Southern Kaduna Senatorial District, Danjuma Laah on Wednesday engaged in a war of words over renewed killings in southern part of the state.
Besides, the senator said the threat by the governor to arrest any individual or group calling on the peple of the area to embark on self-defence against the herdsmen, was unacceptable.
He said, “I wish to state that these statements are not only unfortunate, callous, insensitive, crude and demeaning of his office and intelligence, it throws him up as a bigot and hater of Southern Kaduna and we are holding him as an accomplice in the ongoing genocide in Southern Kaduna.”
However, the governor, through his Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Samuel Aruwan, in a reaction at a press conference, blamed La’ah for playing to the gallery instead of playing his role as a leader.
While denying paying herdsmen over the killing in Southern Kaduna, the governor’s spokesman clarified that his principal never paid herdsmen money in order to either appease or arm them as widely reported in the media.
Aruwan, who lamented the distortion of what the governor said in an interview with some journalists last week, said that “the government is combining security action with dialogue and peace-building efforts in Southern Kaduna.
“El-Rufai has continued what was admirable in the peace efforts of the late Governor Patrick Yakowa, and would do whatever is legitimate to secure lasting peace in the area.”
He noted that the late Yakowa tried to foster reconciliation with the affected Fulani communities, in order to stem the tide of vengeance and reprisals.
