The Katari Community Development Association, ( KCDA) has called on Kaduna State Government to re-consider her earlier position on the proposed clearance of Katari, Rijana and Akilibu Communities in Kachia Local Government Area of Kaduna state, due to the insecurity challenges of the area.
The group made the call on Friday, through her president, Mr. Danjuma Makeri Mohammed, while briefing Journalists at the NUJ Secretariat Kaduna.
It would be recalled that Governor Nasir El-rufai on 19th May, 2022, while receiving the first quarter security report, proposed the clearance of Katari, Rijana and Akilibu communities along the Kaduna-Abuja expressway, said they harbour criminals and informants.
Mr. Danjuma, lamented that rather than the Government to focus more on how to improve the security architecture, to modern technology, Governor El-rufai is busy thinking of how to relocate indigents from their ancestral land.
He also noted that the Communities despite their differences are known for relative peace, stressed that they will not take the law into their hands, but government must live up to her responsibilities to secure the lives and properties of the Communities as part of their constitutional mandates.
He said “Notably in the said public statement, His Excellency unambiguously accused three communities located on the Abuja – Kaduna highway (Viz: Katari, Akilbu and Rijana) of “alleged connivance with bandits to carry attacks on motorists plying the road”, and that his administration is exploring measures to take on the three settlements, either to relocate them to near Kagarko or clear the entire settlements” subject to deliberations at the state’s security council meeting.
“Lamentably, our communities being law abiding and forward looking social entities are eminently miffed and appalled by the aforementioned unsavory pronouncements because they are inherently very damaging, injurious, misleading and volatile.” He said.
The group said, “To the best of our knowledge, our communities are not aware of the involvement of any of our members either directly or indirectly in any verifiable cases of banditry within and outside our communities. Thus the bogus allegation that we are collaborators of banditry is largely ruse, trivial and unfounded.
“Our communities were not given the benefit of doubt or any fair hearing with a view to establishing the veracity or otherwise of the weighty allegations leveled against us prior to His Excellency’s damaging public statement.
“Lamentably, our communities being law abiding and forward looking social entities are eminently miffed and appalled by the aforementioned unsavory pronouncements because they are inherently very damaging, injurious, misleading and volatile.
“Resultantly, we deem it very compelling to make the following observations and recommendations in the overriding interest of clarity, probity and mutual understanding by the discerning public and other relevant authorities.
“Shockingly, many of our farmers cannot access their farms these days while others have to pay levies to bandits before they could access their farms.
They advised that there should be constructive engagements between relevant government agencies and critical stakeholders in the respective communities to foster a workable synergy in the fight against banditry in the area, identifiable flash spots where bandits normally take undue advantage to perpetrate their heinous acts should be placed under strict security control, among others.
