*By Awwal Mustafa Imam*
KASUWAN MAGANI CRISIS: THE REAL ISSUES
As against what is being spread on all media, that 50-60 people were killed during the recent Kasuwan Magani crisis in Kajuru Local Government Area of Kaduna state, hundreds have actually been killed. More than 300 people have been killed, hundreds missing and property worth millions of Naira destroyed.
Kasuwan Magani is a town along Kaduna - Kachia road in Kajuru LG of southern Kaduna. The town is mainly dominated by Adara tribe with quite significant number of Muslims within the city. The Christians there are mostly from the surrounding villages and towns. The town is mostly bedevilled by religious crises, the recent was in March 2018 before this current one.
From how the news of the crises is being spread, you would actually ascertain who the instigators and who the victims are. We have registered bigots and fanatics that talk harsh whenever Christians are killed in any unfortunate attack or crisis. But till now, no word of condemnation from those and/or CAN. This is enough to tell you who instigated the crisis and why.
The most recent Kasuwan Magani crisis was actually planned and coordinated to occur on market day, an is a continuation of the Hausa/Fulani ethnic cleansing that started in 2011 post election violence, where more than 1000 Hausa/Fulani communities were wiped out. It took me time to get enough details and facts of what really transpired during this recent crisis from the eye witnesses.
It all started with a little misunderstanding between Muslim and Christian youths, then as usual, the Christian youths took offence and started killing traders. The target is mostly on market day so they can inflict enough casualties on the traders. Hundreds of traders from Funtua, Zaria, Kano, Ikara, Soba, Saminaka and other places have been killed by the Adara youth and their vehicles, items and property worth millions of Naira burnt.
Most of the traders were not too conversant with the villages surrounding Kasuwan Magani, so in their attempt to escape the crisis, they fell in the trap set by the Adara youth in various villages and they got killed. Hundreds of bodies have been recovered and hundreds still missing, no one knows their fate.
From the recent crisis of March 2018, we had expected that government would take action and put permanent security structures along and within the town to prevent passersby and traders from being lynched same way Berom youth are lynching people. But no action was taken. It took hours of mayhem before the arrival of security to save people and their wealths.
There is an armoury military barracks at Kachia which was weakened by the then President Obasanjo when he relocated the armoury to Ikeja Military Cantonment in 2002, which led to armoury explosion then. More security structures for both police and army need to be established along that road and around Kasuwan Magani to save people and avert future occurrences.
At this juncture, we call on Kaduna state government to relocate the market at Kasuwan Magani to a more serene area to save traders and their lives since it is clear the Adara youth are not happy with the wealth being generated in their area, that is why they kill and burn trader's wealth every now and then.
Auwal Mustapha Imam
KASUWAN MAGANI CRISIS: THE REAL ISSUES
As against what is being spread on all media, that 50-60 people were killed during the recent Kasuwan Magani crisis in Kajuru Local Government Area of Kaduna state, hundreds have actually been killed. More than 300 people have been killed, hundreds missing and property worth millions of Naira destroyed.
Kasuwan Magani is a town along Kaduna - Kachia road in Kajuru LG of southern Kaduna. The town is mainly dominated by Adara tribe with quite significant number of Muslims within the city. The Christians there are mostly from the surrounding villages and towns. The town is mostly bedevilled by religious crises, the recent was in March 2018 before this current one.
From how the news of the crises is being spread, you would actually ascertain who the instigators and who the victims are. We have registered bigots and fanatics that talk harsh whenever Christians are killed in any unfortunate attack or crisis. But till now, no word of condemnation from those and/or CAN. This is enough to tell you who instigated the crisis and why.
The most recent Kasuwan Magani crisis was actually planned and coordinated to occur on market day, an is a continuation of the Hausa/Fulani ethnic cleansing that started in 2011 post election violence, where more than 1000 Hausa/Fulani communities were wiped out. It took me time to get enough details and facts of what really transpired during this recent crisis from the eye witnesses.
It all started with a little misunderstanding between Muslim and Christian youths, then as usual, the Christian youths took offence and started killing traders. The target is mostly on market day so they can inflict enough casualties on the traders. Hundreds of traders from Funtua, Zaria, Kano, Ikara, Soba, Saminaka and other places have been killed by the Adara youth and their vehicles, items and property worth millions of Naira burnt.
Most of the traders were not too conversant with the villages surrounding Kasuwan Magani, so in their attempt to escape the crisis, they fell in the trap set by the Adara youth in various villages and they got killed. Hundreds of bodies have been recovered and hundreds still missing, no one knows their fate.
From the recent crisis of March 2018, we had expected that government would take action and put permanent security structures along and within the town to prevent passersby and traders from being lynched same way Berom youth are lynching people. But no action was taken. It took hours of mayhem before the arrival of security to save people and their wealths.
There is an armoury military barracks at Kachia which was weakened by the then President Obasanjo when he relocated the armoury to Ikeja Military Cantonment in 2002, which led to armoury explosion then. More security structures for both police and army need to be established along that road and around Kasuwan Magani to save people and avert future occurrences.
At this juncture, we call on Kaduna state government to relocate the market at Kasuwan Magani to a more serene area to save traders and their lives since it is clear the Adara youth are not happy with the wealth being generated in their area, that is why they kill and burn trader's wealth every now and then.
Auwal Mustapha Imam