•18 persons arrested as death toll rises to 12
•Police recover petrol bombs, other dangerous items
•Senate cautions religious, political leaders against hate
speech
By Henry Umoru & Ben Agande
KADUNA —No fewer than 1,000 shops and several
vehicles were torched in the violent clash that occurred
between Christian and Muslim youths in Kaduna on
Monday over girls, as the death toll rose to 12 yesterday.
When Vanguard visited the scene yesterday, the large
scale destruction that trailed the clash which engulfed
Kasuwan Magani town in Kajuru Local Government Area
of the state was benumbing.
Kaduna State Commissioner of Police, Austin Iwar, who
disclosed the new death toll yesterday, said 18 people
had also been arrested.
Addressing journalists after a fact-finding and
assessment visit to the area, the Police Commissioner
vowed that no stone would be left unturned in unravelling
the immediate and remote causes of the crisis.
The Police Commissioner, in company of the General
Officer Commanding I Division of the Nigerian Army,
Kaduna, Major-General Mohammed Mohammed and state
commandant of the National Security and Civil Defence
Corps, Modu Goni, expressed shock at the scale of
destruction.
He said: “It is unfortunate. As we can see, the level of
destruction is very high, some people were killed and
properties were destroyed. This is not what we wish for
our state, Kaduna.
“Let me say that we will not leave any stone unturned in
investigating the remote and immediate causes of this
problem. We will talk to the stakeholders here and try to
find out what the problem is and through civil problem
solving approach and conflict resolution, we will deal with
that.”
Police recover petrol bombs, other items
“We will also look at the criminal aspect of it. So far, we
have arrested eighteen people we suspect were involved
in the crisis. We are working round the clock to ensure
that we get to the root of the matter.
“We have recovered a number of dangerous items,
including petrol bombs. We believe this is a planned thing
and we will get to the root of the matter. We will do a
thorough investigation to ensure that it does not happen
again.”
He said the police was aware of “skirmishes” in the area
two weeks ago and had made some arrests “but we did
not know that there was a grand design to carry out
massive destruction as it happened.”
He defended police response to the crisis, saying he
mobilized his men and deployed to the area as soon as
the Police received reports of the crisis.
“The most important thing to us is, when was it reported
to us? Travelling from Kaduna to this place takes about
forty minutes. We needed to prepare and mobilize our
men. Police officers are not like items sitting on the
shelves of supermarkets.
“We needed to bring people from other places. We took
necessary steps to check the crisis. We brought in
military reinforcement, Civil Defence and Police
reinforcement,” he added.
The Police commissioner said 11 victims of the crisis
were “buried around12 midnight”, while one person who
sustained injuries later died in the hospital yesterday.
Crisis started on Monday, when a Christian girl who was
allegedly engaged to a Muslim man was about to convert
to Islam, a development that angered youths of the
predominantly Christian settlement.
Senate warns against hate speech
Meanwhile, the Senate has cautioned religious, political,
community leaders against hate speech to avoid hate
actions.
It also said any conflict with religious colouration would
be the fastest way to liquidate Nigeria as a country.
Speaking yesterday, in Abuja during plenary when
Senator Shehu Sani (APC, Kaduna Central) raised a point
of order on the killings, destruction of property in
Kasuwan Magani, Kajuru Local Government Area of
Kaduna State, Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu,
who presided over plenary, said if all Nigerians,
irrespective of class, religion and status, treat themselves
as brothers and sisters, those following them would
follow.
Ekweremadu, who urged the leaders to try as hard as
they can to avoid escalation of religious crisis in Nigeria,
said:
“This is one incident too many. This is becoming very
worrisome. What is even more worrisome is the religious
colouration to the killings, based on what Senator Shehu
Sani has said. This is something we need to avoid.
“That is, any conflict that will have religious colouration,
that will be the fastest way to liquidate this country. As
leaders, we must understand that leadership comes with
responsibilities. It is our job to keep preaching to those
who are leading through our actions and words that we
belong to one God.
“The fact that somebody is a Christian or Muslim does
not mean that he should hate another person. I have not
seen any religion that preaches hate killings. It is the way
we behave that promotes that.
“We are talking about hate speech. The worst of it is hate
action. If we treat ourselves as brothers and sisters, those
following us will follow us. We must try as hard as we
can, not to have any religious escalation in Nigeria.”
Season of mayhem in Kaduna — Sani
Earlier in the presentation of his point of order, Senator
Shehu Sani, who came under Order 43 of the Senate
Standing Orders 2015 as Amended, said: “I stand to
bring the attention of the Senate and the nation to an
unfortunate violence we had yesterday in Kasuwan
Magani, Kajuru Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
The violence took the lives of over six to seven people.
Houses were burnt and it was a season of mayhem.
“The mayhem was attributed to youths who decided to
take laws into their hands. But it had the colouration of
religious violence. Everyday, we wake up in this country
and we are faced with one form of violence or another.
We are now accepting the reality that violence is the way
of life.
“It is unfortunate that we wake up everyday and we see
killings, kidnappings and other things that shake the
stability and unity of this country in every respect. I use
this opportunity to appeal to all parties involved in all
forms of violence to know that we cannot achieve any
progress without peace.
“The unity of Nigeria is not about the flag or the anthem,
but the establishment of a system that ensures justice,
harmony and love among one another. I want the Senate
to identify with us in our time of crisis.
“We must live together as Christians and as Muslims in
this country. We need to live as people, despite the fact
that we are from different parts of the country.”
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