‘Our Attackers Always Come From The Herdsmen Axis’, SOKAPU Demands Proactive Measures
The Oasis Reporters
February 13, 2018
Southern Kaduna Union Reacts Over Attack On Bakin Kogi, Issues Press Statement
Southern Kaduna Peoples’ Union (SOKAPU)
Press Statement
12/02/2018
The Unprovoked Attack On Bakin Kogi, Jema’a LGA And The Need for Government to Show More Seriousness.
Just when our people were about to heave a sigh of relief that peace has at last returned to our communities, murderous herdsmen on Sunday, February 11, 2018, re-enacted their blood thirsty trait when they launched an attack on Bakin Kogi in Jema’a Local Government Area of Kaduna State. By the time the smoke of the attack had cleared, no fewer than 4 persons had been killed, with about 10 sustaining various gunshot injuries.
The Southern Kaduna Peoples’ Union (SOKAPU) finds this latest attack on our peace-loving community as heinous and hinged on an evil ploy of creating instability and terror in our communities. SOKAPU recalls that a similar attack was unleashed on the same town in 2017, with deaths and no fewer than dozens of buildings razed to the ground. We are sad that despite the horrendous level of mayhem visited on the town last year, the state government and other agencies of government did not deem it fit to provide relief materials to the suffering people of the besieged town.
We are at a loss why Bakin Kogi came under an unprovoked attack despite the presence of security personnel. We are the more horrified that policemen had to engage these murderous cowards in a shooting spree before retrieving bodies of the slain victims. SOKAPU is of the opinion that the inability of the government to bring to book perpetrators of previous attacks has emboldened these terrorists and rendered them invisible to the long arms of the law.
While we have always been asking for proactive measures at disabling these attackers rather than the usual reactive manner these marauders have been handled by the state government, we, however, commend the quick response in drafting officials of SEMA to the scene of the attack. We are further calling for genuine efforts at arresting these perpetrators because, from all facts on the ground, nothing extra is being done in arresting these armed terrorists. Government needs to protect lives before they are taken, not just condemning the act after the lives have been wasted. Also, security agencies should focus on allegations that these attackers have always come from a particular area inhabited by the herdsmen in that axis.
It is incontrovertible that without the support of herdsmen living in our communities, these terrorists would find it difficult, if not impossible, to wage their war against our communities. It is in this direction that SOKAPU calls on security agencies to focus on areas used as a launch pad in carrying out these attacks to forestall future assault.
While we continue to call on our people to remain vigilant, we urge the security organizations to review their operations in order to evolve measures that could serve as effective strategies in combating future attacks. Against the backdrop of our earlier calls on the Governor Umahi-led committee on herdsmen/farmers’ crisis to include Kaduna on the list of states to be visited, Sunday’s attack on Bakin Kogi has justified our position and made it imperative for all hands to be on deck in order to end these killings by these despicable terrorists masquerading as herdsmen.
We commiserate with the victims of this dastardly attack and pray to Almighty God to grant eternal repose to the dead while wishing those who sustained injuries a quick recovery.
Signed: Mr Yakubu Kuzamani
National PRO.
