TIME TO REBUILD CONFIDENCE
AND TRUST IN KADUNA STATE
On the 21st day
of February 2000, hoodlums, unemployed youths, vagabonds and anti democratic
elements turned Kaduna State upside down. They killed, raped, burnt, looted and
destroyed human lives and properties. After three days of mayhem, thousands of
people were burnt, hacked to death or buried alive in an orgy of violence.
Properties worth billions of Naira were destroyed and or looted in the mayhem.
Children lost their parents, wives lost
their husbands and in some cases, the rioting mobs killed entire families. The
rioting mobs did not spare places of worship. They targeted churches and
mosques specifically. They burnt most of them and in some cases those that had
taken refuge in them.
By the 23rd day
of February 2000, Kaduna wore a mournful look. Over 120,000 residents emptied
into the Army and Police Barracks scattered across the State in search of “safe
havens.”
Revenge attacks, apparently
in response to the crisis in Kaduna State, took place in places like Aba,
Umuahia, Okigwe, and Uyo. Thousands of innocent citizens have lost their lives
in the ensuing confusion and mayhem. Properties worth millions have also been
lost in the ensuing conflagration.
In Sokoto State some
students of Usman Dan Fodio University demonstrated in favour of the
introduction of Sharia Law in the State and burnt some churches and other
public places.
In Kano, Katsina, Sokoto,
Kaduna, Plateau, Niger and Zamfara, those popularly referred to as
“non-indigenes” are moving away from the States in droves. It is now common
sight to see luxury buses and lorries crowding the major highways with entire
belongings of families.
The events of 21st February
2000 has its immediate roots in a procession organized by the Kaduna branch of
the Christian Association of Nigeria in response to its fears about the
possible introduction of the Sharia Legal System in Kaduna State. Prior to
this, several Muslim groups and associations organized processions in support
of the introduction of the Sharia Legal System in the State.
Our aim at this critical and
crucial period is not to apportion blame to any group or individuals for the
mayhem unleashed on the State on the 21st day of March 2000. On the contrary, we have decided in the overall
national interest and the interest of the ordinary people of Nigeria to make
our views known on the best way of resolving the crisis of confidence that has
bedeviled the Liberal City of Kaduna.
OUR
POSITION.
1. We call on the
Kaduna State Government to broaden the terms of reference of the judicial
commission of Inquiry into the crisis. The Commission’s terms of reference must
include ascertaining the number of people that lost their lives as a result of
the crisis. It must also include a quantification of the number and worth of
properties destroyed or looted during the crisis. This will enable the state
Government to determine the amount of compensation to be paid to those who lost
their breadwinners and the amount to be paid to those who lost their properties
and their means of livelihood.
2. Only through a
process of compensatory justice can the State Government begin a genuine
process of rehabilitation and reconciliation.
Identifying and punishing the brains behind the crisis may serve the
twin process of sanction and punishment, but it is incapable of rekindling hope
and allowing the ordinary people who are the real victims of the crisis pick up
the pieces of their lives once again.
3. The Federal
Government must also come to the aid of the Kaduna State Government in the area
of resettling displaced persons and payment of compensation to those who lost
their bread winners and their businesses. The events that took place in Kaduna
is akin to a natural disaster and the Federal Government must treat it as an
emergency situation. A substantial amount of money must be approved for the
resettlement and rehabilitation of the victims of the Kaduna mayhem. The ten
million Naira budgeted by the Federal Government for this purpose is just like
a drop in the ocean and will hardly assist the government in the process of
reconstruction and rehabilitation.
4. Genuine
democratic elements must move quickly to reclaim the political terrain and
seize the political initiative from anti democratic forces. It is anathema to democratic
principles and democratic precepts to have clerics as the chief spokespersons
of our new democracy. Clerics must return to their primary duty of ministering
to the spiritual needs of their congregation and leave the political terrain to
the political class to organize for the common good of the people. Those
political leaders that are more comfortable tending the spiritual needs of
their people should examine themselves and make a determination of whether they
are in a wrong calling.
5. Genuine reconciliation
must come from the base level among all the ethnic and religious groups in the
country especially in Kaduna State. Community and religious leaders, youth
groups and organizations, labor unions in the Local Government Areas, Women’s
groups and organizations, human rights and pro democracy organizations,
professional groups and organizations, students groups and organizations in the
different communities, localities and Local governments must all come together
to rekindle hope and build confidence in their communities.
6. The Kaduna State
Government must also move into the various communities and local governments
and forge unity among the various communities. The present attitude of inviting
influential people who may not be popular and well rooted in their communities
to Government House may only boost the political profile of some individuals.
It will not impact positively on the search for genuine people and
reconciliation.
7. The Kaduna State
Government and the Federal Government must also strengthen their curfew
enforcement mechanism in order to forestall a return to hostilities as a result
of the activities of hoodlums and miscreants. It is now a matter of common
knowledge that the curfew imposed on Kaduna City and its environs is not being
strictly enforced. Because of this security lapse, hoodlums, social miscreants
and men of the underworld have been busy terrorizing Kaduna residents, thus
worsening the atmosphere of insecurity in the State.
8. The Kaduna State
Government must deploy more security personnel to various markets to stem the
activities of hoodlums and miscreants who have been exploiting the current state of fear and insecurity in
the State to create confusion to enable them loot peoples properties.
9. As a concrete
step towards rebuilding confidence and creating an atmosphere for renewed
mutual co-existence, the Kaduna State Government should, in conjunction with
community based associations, set up CITIZENS FORUMS FOR PEACE AND RECONCILAITION
in the various localities in Kaduna State. Such Forums could put in place
information gathering and Community Monitoring Mechanisms as a sort of
preventive interventionist strategy to nip potential conflicts in the bud. By
so doing different communities could have a renewed sense of mutual security,
thereby stemming the current disruptive exodus of people from Kaduna City.
Festus Okoye Esq.
Executive Director
Human Rights Monitor
March 21, 2000