Jennifer Ugwueke
The Southern Kaduna Peoples’ Union (SOKAPU), a socio-cultural group in the State, says some residents of Gbagyi Community in the Chikun Local Government area of the State paid over N3 million to bandits and Fulani militia to allow them harvest their crops and spend Christmas in their ancestral home without the fear of being attacked.
In a statement signed by the Secretary of SOKAPU, Alfred Goni, on Friday, December 25, the group said it discovered the ugly situation on Thursday when it took palliatives to over 1,600 Gbagyi Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) who had fled surrounding villages taken over by armed Fulani militia.
Goni described the development as unfortunate, adding that such was indicative of the worsening security situation in the Country.
“We took drugs, sleeping mats and clothes and money to these traumatised citizens on Thursday and what they told us are quite alarming and pathetic,” the statement said.
“They told us of the shocking impunity exhibited by the invaders, how they collect huge sums of money to allow the villagers to harvest their crops.
“We also spoke to victims of kidnapping who were ruined economically and more. We spoke to those who lost loved ones and property. We were told that the entire Chikun ward was under the mercy of the armed killers. It is unbelievable that we have a Government.
“A certain Community paid N3m to the militia to be allowed to stay and spend Christmas. We were told that the entire Chikun ward is under the mercy of the armed killers. These people will spend their Christmas in sorrow and pain. No assistance to them is too small.”