THE VIOLENT CRISIS IN KAFANCHAN AND ITS ENVIRONS FOLLOWING THE APRIL 16TH. 2011 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION:

Sleep eluded residents of Kafanchan Township and neighbouring towns and villages like Kagoro, Madakiya, Zonkwa and a host of others, on Monday night 18th April 2011. This was as a result of mounting tension following the gradual release of the results of the Presidential elections held on Saturday 16th. April 2011 by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The un-easy calm and tension that characterized life generally on Monday morning up to afternoon time, soon gave way to a total break-down of law and order when sympathizers of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), mainly Muslims, who form a small fraction of the population in Kafanchan township, launched a guerrilla war-like attacks on innocent citizens who live in their immediate vicinity. These attacks were massive, and were launched simultaneously at several fronts in the town. The Area Commander of the Police Force testified to this and further said that because of the sporadic and widely spread nature of the attacks, it made it difficult for the police to move in and contain the crisis. These attacks which started about 10.00pm after an un-usual call to prayer (Kiran sallah), continued until day break on Tuesday without any counter attacks from Christians and the aborigines of this environment. The Muslim militants who were heavily armed with sophisticated guns carried out mayhem on the town all night. Christians were on the run for their lives in the face of such fire. Some of the retired army officers in our midst who could from the sound of the gun-shots, identify the kind of guns being used by the militants, told us much later that it would have been suicidal for anyone to have gone against these militants with sticks and stones, which seems to be all the weapons the Christians had in their hands. Christians therefore, were forced to abandon their homes and their properties.

By day break on Tuesday 19th. April, the Central market in Kafanchan had been razed to the ground and many homes especially Christian homes in the heart of Kafanchan township were also burnt. Kafanchan has been reduced by this crisis to a shadow of its past. Some of those who have gone back to inspect the destruction done to their homes and properties have said that their homes were first looted and then set ablaze. They came to such conclusion because they could not see the trace of some of their properties in the form of accumulated rubbles or burnt items.

In the early hours of Monday there were indications that a crisis situation was looming as it was observed by the Igbo traders their Hausa colleagues who used to open their shops before others came much later than them that day. Even when they came they were rather seen carrying out some of their goods away. The Muslims preparedness for war in Kafanchan and its environs is further proven by the fact that what happened in Kafanchan, repeated itself almost in similar fashion in places like Zonkwa and Matsirga (Madakiya). The only difference is that in places outside Kafanchan, they were quickly rounded up and overpowered. And this denied them the power to unleash terror in these places in the way they did in Kafanchan. In all these places, sophisticated weapons were distributed early in the day; this was followed by a call to prayer at an odd hour like (8pm at Madakiya/Matsirga and 10pm in Kafanchan) that same Monday night. Not long after the call to prayer there were sporadic gunshots coming from their location.

In Zonkwa, weapons were again distributed among the Hausas and Fulanis which were to be used against the aborigines. A proof to this is that some Fulanis turn over the consignment of weapons allocated to them for the war to their host communities - Bajjus as a sign of their un-preparedness to join the Hausas in the battle against their host community. These weapons were later handed over to the security agents in Zonkwa.

This crisis has resulted in the loss of many lives from both sides. The Police have reported that the mass burial carried out was for about 300-350 people. From a tour of the town by the Bishop, the JDPC Co-ordinator of the diocese and one other Priest, it was discovered that well over 300 houses had been destroyed. We also had well over 14,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs), who lived in camps, not to talk of those squatting or taking refuge in the homes of friends and relations. The central market valued at about N1.5billion is gone. Economic life and activity has been brought to a halt. Today there is no food, no clean water, and no place for buying and selling in Kafanchan. Ordinary household items like sugar, Maggi, pure water etc, cannot be sourced locally. The crisis has brought untold hardships to many in Kafanchan and its environs.



MATTERS ARISING:

1. UNLAWFUL POSSESSION OF FIREARMS BY THE HAUSA/ FULANIS: From the picture painted above, one thing emerges clearly: That large consignment of weapons were illegally acquired by the Hausa/Fulani community in our midst and distributed widely among themselves with a view to using them against their host community – (a majority Christian population). This they did with impunity even when no single act of provocation was done by the host community. What started in Kaduna and other Northern States as a political crisis, where aggrieved CPC members burnt down properties of their political opponents, assumed a different dimension in Kafanchan. Here, Muslim militants hatched and carried out pre-meditated attacks on innocent Christians, killing, maiming and destroying anything belonging to Christians. They successfully executed their script before re-enforcements of security services came in after 2pm the next day. The questions to be asked are: How did these perpetrators come about their arms? How were these arms imported into Kafanchan, beating all security check points? Lastly but more fundamentally, what measures are being taken by Government to identify the hideouts of these arms and have them retrieved? We have given tips to the security agents as to where these hideouts are located. Does government have the moral and political will to cordon, check and retrieve these weapons from the hands of these militants? It is our submission here that any peace without the collection of these arms is only temporary peace.

2. THE MASTERMINDS OF THIS CRISIS: It is also worth noting here that this crisis was induced by the last Presidential election, and given the fact that some political figures in the North had vowed to make Nigeria un-governable by throwing her into chaos and confusion, should they lose out in their bid to rule this Country. Since their threats have to pass, and Kafanchan has become one of the casualties of their threats, Government must now have the courage to address these threats with a view to bringing redress to those who now suffer.

3. UNPREPAREDNESS OF THE SECURITY SERVICES FOR POST ELECTION VIOLENCE: The Muslim militants terrorized the township of Kafanchan all night up to afternoon of the next day because the Police and other security outfits in Kafanchan were overwhelmed by the magnitude of the crisis. The Police received many desperate calls of Christians trapped in their houses but could not dare enter the fighting zone because they were ill equipped to do so. The Police watched helplessly as people were killed and houses and the Market set ablaze. All calls for help were not responded to. There were some lapses on the side of the Police in their failure to secure the town and avert the mayhem that visited us. They were unable to read the signs and prospects of some attacks and then moved in fast to saturate these two streets with enough of their men so as stop that crisis from moving out and spreading all over the town.

4. THE COMPLICITY OF THE FIRST BATCH OF SOLDIERS FROM RUKUBA BARRACKS: The fighting became more intense between the hours of 11 and 1pm on Tuesday 19th. April. At this time we witnessed four persons shot at the frontage of the Cathedral church. The shooting was carried out by the first batch of Soldiers from Rukuba Barracks who were on the main road around the College of Nursing and the Cathedral Church. There was also consistent shooting from the premises of the College of Nursing suspected to have been carried out by an Egyptian Doctor posted to the general hospital Kafanchan. These shootings, which brought a lot of casualties, forced the Christian Youth who were already advancing towards the town to retreat. And as soon as they retreated, the worst burnings of houses and public places started occurring. This particular episode coupled with the indiscriminate shootings carried out by three Hausa Soldiers at Fadan Kagoma which left three people dead, and a retired General shot on the leg, and made the villagers to run into the forest to take shelter, clearly point(s) to some complicity of the Muslim-soldiers in aggravating the crisis at some point.

5. COUNTING OUR LOSSES: Our losses are first in the area of deaths. About 350 people were buried in mass graves. This excludes the burials carried our privately by families of their loved ones that were killed. If those who started this madness had known that this is how things will end up in Kafanchan and its environs, they would not have contemplated starting it at all. The way people were hacked to death during this crisis for simply being Christians or Muslims shows the total lack of respect for the sacredness of human life. There are many who survived death but suffered serious injuries that may render them physically handicapped for life. In addition to these, is the psychological pains and trauma that may remain in the lives of many for a long time to come. The crisis has done great damage to the efforts made in the last ten years (this is, since after the Miss World Beauty Pageant induced riots of 2002) to build ethnic and religious harmony among the diverse people of this environment. These pains will surely heighten the religious divide among us unless deliberate measures are undertaken to repair these damages soon. The cost of rebuilding the over 300 houses destroyed is placed at about N2billion naira, and the value of Properties lost both in the market and in people homes and business centres is placed at about N1.5billion naira.

6. RELIEF SERVICES: As at the time of this report, the state government brought in relief materials but were diverted to the emir’s palace and so many victims could not access them because of feelings of insecurity.



CONCLUSION: Tensions are gradually subsiding. People are able to move around a bit. Peace seems to be coming back. However for us to have lasting peace, efforts must be made to find out how arms came to be widely spread within the Hausa communities in Kafanchan, Madakiya, Zonkwa and a host of other places in the southern part of Kaduna. Christians constitute the majority in this area. But unfortunately in places like Kafanchan, they had to flee before the minority because of the fire power in their hands. The presence of large amount of sophisticated weapons in the hands of the Muslim minority gave them courage to initiate attacks on their host communities with impunity. How did they come about owning these weapons? How were they able to beat all security check points to bring these weapons up to Kafanchan? Finally, if lasting and sustainable peace is to be achieved in Kafanchan, Government must take drastic measures such as putting her intelligence machinery to work to discover the hideouts of these weapons in mosques and in people’s houses and to retrieve them to their custody. If this is not done, then many people who have no arms now will work hard to begin to acquire them. And should this turn out to be the case, then all we can say as observers is that: Kafanchan is living on a time bomb.

From the office of Justice, Development and Peace Commission (JDPC)

Catholic Diocese of Kafanchan.

There are very many troubling aspects to the article; from an Egyptian doctor joining in to shoot Nigerians to soldiers taking the side of the almajiri's to shoot the innocent in cold blood.

This matter is going to be very difficult to resolve, but it MUST be frontally tackled, otherwise the country will continue to be held hostage by animals who see setting off bombs and pogroms as everyday tasks.

The country must not be held to ransome.

wow!God save Nigeria