Arewa Consultative Assembly calls emergency meeting in response to Zamfara and Kaduna killings

NORTHERN Nigeria's pan-cultural umbrella body the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has called an emergency for today to discuss the growing insecurity across the region following the upsurge in violence across several states.

Over the last week, there has been a dramatic increase in killings in Zamfara, Sokoto, Kaduna and Katsina states, leaving hundreds dead. In Zamfara State for instance, gold deposits recently discovered there is thought to be fuelling the crisis and in response, the federal government has suspended all mining activities for the time being.

In southern Kaduna State, the ongoing communal violence between Muslim Fulani herdsmen and Christian farming communities has also claimed more lives this week. Worried by the increasing rate of banditry across northern Nigeria, the ACF has convened a meeting of its board of trustees to discuss the matter.

Last week, Nigeria's defence minister Retired general Mansur Dan-Ali, indicted some prominent traditional rulers in the north for aiding bandits in parts of the country. ACF spokesman Alhaji Muhammad Biu, confirmed that the forum’s board of trustees would meet on today over the matter, although he declined to admit that certain traditional rulers were to blame.

Alhaji Biu said: “The Arewa Consultative Forum and indeed Nigerians are worried by reports of the kidnapping of innocent people along the highways and the frequent attacks on villages by some bandits. The kidnappings and attacks on the people, especially along the Kaduna-Abuja Expressway and many villages in Zamfara, Sokoto, Katsina and Kaduna states as well as many parts of the country are cruel, barbaric and inhuman.”

Yesterday, General Dan-Ali said the federal government had ordered the security agencies to tackle banditry and killings in Zamfara State and the entire northwest geopolitical zone. He accused some top traditional rulers of helping the bandits to perpetuate criminal activities and compromising military operations.

General Dan-Ali warned that the armed forces would go after any person or group of persons who choose to connive or sympathise with the bandits to perpetuate crimes against law-abiding citizens. He added that the military had been directed to deal with anybody identified to be helping the bandits under whatever guise and no matter how highly placed the person or persons may be.

“The defence ministry is very concerned about the security challenges in the northwest, particularly in Zamfara, Sokoto, Katsina and Kaduna states. Due to the prevailing security situation in the states, the Nigerian Army is already conducting Exercise Harbin Kunama IV in Zamfara, Katsina and Sokoto states," General Dan-Ali added.