KADUNA UPDATE: Working for peace is a duty of humanity

Remarks by Malam Nasir El-Rufai, Governor of Kaduna State, during the visit of a delegation from Atyap Chiefdom, to present a formal update on the peace and reconciliation process between the communities in the Chiefdom; Sir Kashim House, 25th August 2020

I wish to commend the Atyap, Fulani and Hausa communities of Atyap Chiefdom in Zangon-Kataf LGA for the successful peace and reconciliation summit they held on Saturday, 23 August 2020.

We are particularly grateful to His Highness, the Agwatyap for his leadership in bringing together the diverse communities in his chiefdom to begin the process of rebuilding trust and restoring peace. We thank the community leaders and civic-minded individuals that have helped kickstart this dialogue process.

All who seek to replace violent strife with harmony can be assured of the unstinting support of the state government for the peace and concord in all our communities.

This government has been clear and insistent since 2015 that the ultimate guarantee of peace is the willingness of communities to live in peace and harmony, and their resolve to settle all differences by strictly lawful means. This community support is as important as the investments we have made in stationing and maintaining detachments of the military and police in southern Kaduna.

What the communities and leadership of Atyap Chiefdom have started is the type of grassroots ownership of the responsibility for peace and harmony in communities that the government has advocated as a critical factor beyond the deployment of police and military forces. This strong community rapprochement will help to complement security efforts to restore law and order and advance towards sustainable peace.

We welcome the unequivocal repudiation of the violence and killings that have occurred in the Atyap Chiefdom, and the call on all residents of the area to report to the security agencies the criminals that have perpetrated the lawless acts in the area. This call for accountability is significant, and it represents a positive effort to contain impunity and deter crime.

Government notes and commends the resolve by the communities to respect the right of any citizen to live in peace within the Atyap Chiefdom and applauds the resolution to settle disputes through lawful processes and institutions.

Also noteworthy is the involvement of youths from the various communities in the peace summit and their agreement not to mount roadblocks anywhere in the chiefdom.

We will maintain the enhanced security deployments in the area as this peace process advances. The Kaduna State Peace Commission will also strongly support this effort at building peace at the grassroots.

The Kaduna State Government appeals to all the communities to abide by the resolutions with vigilance and commitment, and work towards making it a sustainable accord. The work of peace is often hard, but it is a human obligation to work always to preserve human life, liberty and livelihoods.

Once again, I commend His Highness, the Agwatyap, Dominic Gambo Yahaya, for hosting the summit, the co-chairs AVM Ishaya Shekari (rtd) and Dr. Salim Umar and the representatives of the Atyap, Fulani and Hausa communities for this bold step.

I call on every person of goodwill to support the Atyap Chiefdom’s strong efforts to bring its communities together and stop the bloodshed and destruction of property. Everyone should reject the temptation to take laws into their hands and instead submit all grievances to the lawful authorities.