There were protests on the streets of Kaduna, Lagos and Abuja on Saturday morning over what the protesters described as “genocide” taking place in the southern part of Kaduna State and the government’s inability to stop the killings.
The protest took place about 48 hours after suspected Fulani militiamen unleashed fresh attacks on Apiashyim, Kibori, Atakmawei, Apyiako, and Magamiya villages in Southern Kaduna.
In the wake of the attacks, the Southern Kaduna Peoples Union said 33 people were killed. But the police gave the casualty figure as 21.
The National Youth Leader of SOKAPU, John Isaac, said in Kaduna, the protesters stormed the streets of Samaru-Kataf, Zonkwa and Mabushi areas in the Zangon Kataf Local Government Area.
Isaac said solidarity protests were also held in the Maryland, Ikeja area of Lagos, while in Abuja, the protesters convened at the Unity Fountain to demand an end to the incessant killings.
Amid the continuous killing and kidnapping of Southern Kaduna natives, SOKAPU stated that between January 1 and August 5, over 184 persons were killed by militant herdsmen.
Over the same period, the union said over 76 persons were kidnapped even as the whereabouts of some of the victims remained unknown till today. More than 9,000 had also reportedly been displaced by the marauding militiamen.
Angered by the killing spree in their communities, Southern Kaduna people on Saturday marched in different parts of the state, demanding an immediate end to the massacre.
The protesters were joined by leaders of some sociopolitical groups in the country, including Afenifere, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Pan Niger Delta Forum, and the Middle Belt Forum.
The groups’ leaders, who paid a solidarity visit to the region, sympathised with the natives in their trying times. They also visited some internally displaced persons and sought the quick intervention of the President in ending the crisis.
Clad in dark attire, the protesters, in their hundreds, carried placards with inscriptions reading: “Enough is enough,” “We cannot continue like this,” “Southern Kaduna lives matter,” “Government has failed us,” “Allow us to defend ourselves if you can’t,” and “End killings in Southern Kaduna,” among others.
Some of the protesters stormed the streets of Samaru-Kataf, Zonkwa and Mabushi areas in the Zangon Kataf LGA despite a 24-hour curfew imposed by the state Governor, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai.
The Zangon Kataf branch chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Rev Isaac Makama, said the protest was a demonstration of the natives’ displeasure with the government’s handling of the insecurity situation.
“Let government rise up and protect the people because it is sad to see that people will just sit in their homes and get killed for no just cause, and these killers were never arrested even with the huge security around,” he said.
The protesters also marched to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation junction in Chikun Local Government Area of the state.
However, anti-riot policemen stormed the venue of the protest and arrested the protest leaders and some other demonstrators.
Confirming the arrest, the state police command’s Public Relations Officer, ASP Mohammed Jalige, said it was because the protesters did not inform the police before embarking on the protest.
