Spokesman of the Southern Kaduna People’s Union, Luka Binniyat, said there are more than 100 predominately Christian villages in Southern Kaduna that have been occupied by Fulani militants.
This means that the residents of more than 100 communities have been forced into displacement by violence and fear, while others have lost their lives. This is more than 50,000 people according to Binniyat. These people have had to flee to the homes of relatives or friends or to IDPs, (Internally Displaced Person’s camps).
In his press release, Binniyat then goes on to say that more Christians were killed in October as they attempted to return to their villages. He names Kaduna Garba as a man killed in a recent incident and Francis Bala, as someone who was severely injured in the attack among so many others.
However, another group, The Southern Kaduna Peace Practitioners (SOKAPEP) forum has refuted this claim and says that Binniyat is spreading fake claims of these attacks. The group insisted that all of Binniyat’s numbers on the number of Fulani occupying villages were inflated at best.
These kinds of disagreements over attacks and incidents have led to the confusion and furthered the problems that have plagued the North Central crisis, without clear and true statements on attacks, or a group who can be trusted to report on this issue.
Kaduna State has become one of the most volatile regions in Nigeria, as Southern Kaduna, which is predominantly made up of christians has come under severe attacks, leading to loss of lives, homes, lands and properties.
This is a reflection of the turbulent state of christians all over the country, as Benue state, also a christian state, shared the same fate in recent times, where christians were massacred in scores, their farmlands and homes destroyed, while many were displaced.
The public outcry by christians and citizens all over Nigeria, has done little or nothing to draw the attention and empathy of the government in order to curb these viral acts of inhumanity.