Kaduna State governor, Malam Nasir el-Rufai, has called on one Haruna to come forward and explain what he knows about the killings in Chawai chiefdom in Kauru local government area of southern part of the state or face arrest.

el-Rufai said failure of Haruna to show up would force the government to order security agencies to clamp down on him .

Addressing residents including traditional rulers, Fulani leaders at Chawai Internally Displaced persons, IDPs, camp during a visit, el-Rufai, vowed to arrest and prosecute all those involved in attacks that left 38 persons dead and several others displaced.

It was gathered that the incident may be as result of an attack on a Fulani herdsman, name Haruna, whose house was burnt and cows killed by villagers, when he allegedly encroached into a farm.

The governor while urging the affected villagers to remain calm and embrace peace insisted that Haruna must present himself to the government to serve as deterrent to others.

el-Rufai said: “ We need to know what Haruna’s grievances are and listen to his side of story.

“But if he doesn’t come forward, the security agencies have a very clear instruction to hunt and apprehend him and bring him to justice.

“We will not accept the situation in which people result to self help that lead to loss of lives and property in Kaduna State.”

el-Rufai also warned that the government would not condone any attempt to take advantage of the current situation in the area by self serving interests to whip up sentiments and further enflame more crisis.

“As you can see, there are always people that try to take advantage of such situation and it is our duty to ensure we don’t succumb to that.

“We insist on law enforcement, fairness and justice to everyone.”
el-Rufa’i, therefore, appealed to the people of Southern Kaduna to live in peace with one another, and to ensure development and progress.

According to him, the security of any community begins with the people themselves who must agree to shun violence and settle differences through dialogue.
“It is necessary to live in peace because security is not just in the hands of leaders or traditional rulers or security agencies, ultimately we can only be secure if we choose to live in peace with one another.

“Leaders and law enforcement agencies can only come in to settle disputes or prosecute those that committed crimes, but living in peace is the responsibility of everyone.”

“If communities that have lived for a hundred years wake up one morning and say this one is a stranger, this one is an indigene or settler, this speaks of trouble.

“That is why in this state, this government has given very top attention to the issue of indigeneship.

“We believe that anyone that comes and live in Kaduna and is contributing to development of this state is a citizen of Kaduna” The governor maintained.