Group demands probe into ‘killings in southern Kaduna’ during el-Rufai’s tenure

The Southern Kaduna Leaders Council (SKLC) has called on Department of State Services (DSS) to probe the alleged genocide against the people of southern Kaduna during Nasir el-Rufai’s administration.

Speaking on Wednesday at a press conference in Kaduna, Timothy Gandu, a former commissioner and SKLC secretary, described the killings as “grievous and egregious crimes against humanity”.

The group accused el-Rufai of abuse of office, noting that the people of southern Kaduna “will never forget the myriads of wrongdoings inflicted on them” during his tenure as governor.

“We also demand that, for justice to be served and the souls of the unjustly departed to rest in peace, El-Rufai should be made to face the full wrath of the law if found guilty,” Gandu said.

“El-Rufai, in his devious game of pitching one faith against another and one ethnic group against another, abused his official position by misusing the powers of office to carry out these questionable creations.”

The SKLC also dismissed the claim by Muyiwa Adekeye, former media adviser to el-Rufai, that the restructuring of chiefdoms and renaming of traditional institutions in southern Kaduna were carried out at the request of the affected communities.

Gandu said the former governor altered boundaries and traditional structures in the state without broad-based consultation.

“We hereby reject in its entirety the false claims made by Muyiwa Adekeye, Media Adviser to former Governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai, in which he stated that chiefdoms, including that of Adara, requested the creation of Chiefdoms and the alteration of their Chiefdoms’ nomenclature,” Gandu said.

“Out of 25 indigenous chiefdoms whose names El-Rufai decided to change, 17 wrote to state that the names and titles of their chiefs should not be changed.

“Seven others wrote to state that they did not ask for the nomenclature of their traditional institutions to be changed. Yet, El-Rufai ignored the written views of the traditional councils.”

The group urged Uba Sani, governor of the state, to urgently consider repealing the “objectionable Kaduna State Traditional Institution Law, 2021, enacted by El-Rufai’s government” and revert traditional institutions in the state to their 2015 status quo.

Gandu said the group has credible information that el-Rufai initiated the restructuring process but claimed that the requests cited by his administration were orchestrated.