S-Kaduna leaders want money for peace, says El-Rufai
The governor spoke as the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, yesterday promised to partner Kaduna State Government in finding a lasting solution to killings in the area.
This is even as the Council of Imams and Ulamas in Kaduna State alleged that over 100 Muslims had been killed by Christian militias in Southern Kaduna, lamenting that the killings had gone unreported by the media.
Meanwhile, former Military Governor of old Rivers State, Major-General Zamani Lekwot (retd), has said government had a case to answer over killings in Southern Kaduna, wondering how foreigners perpetrating the act entered the country.
Governor El-Rufai, who spoke on a Channels Television programme Sunday night, said previous administrations in the state used to pay some of the leaders who allegedly organize killings.
He said some of the leaders in Southern Kaduna were aggrieved because he stopped the purported payment to them.
The governor said: “Most of them who have no means of livelihood were living off the governments. The governments before us were paying them money every month; they called it peace money. We stopped it. This is why they say I am taking sides.
“Whatever they say, I take it. I am the governor of the state. If they don’t abuse me, who will they abuse? Anyone that is moderate or promoting peaceful co-existence between various ethnic groups is considered a sell-out.
“For a governor like me who does not appease them because they are used to being appeased, they cause trouble, they organize these killings and then, their leaders are invited by the governor, they wine and dine and they are given brown envelopes. That’s what they have been doing for 20 years.
“We came into office and said no more, nobody who does not encourage peaceful co-existence will have access to the governor or Government House. I have no time for them.
“I have no time for nonsense. I will not appease criminals. I will not appease idle people who have nothing to do but to raise a spectre of genocide. They do that to get money into their bank accounts and get donations from abroad instead of standing up.”
The governor added that he is using the security agents to “carefully mark” the leaders indicted in the insecurity in the area, adding that the state will prosecute them “when we accumulate enough evidence.”
“They have come up with other things because the money they got during the election is exhausted and they can say whatever they want to say. I will not appease troublemaker.
“I will not tolerate people that incite. I will map them, we will arrest and prosecute them, that’s my style, I obey the rule of law.”
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