Minister of Defence, Christopher Musa, has accused former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El Rufai, of deliberately planning the killings of people in Southern Kaduna during his administration.
Musa made the allegation on Thursday while speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme, where he also accused the former governor of deepening divisions between communities across Kaduna State.
According to the minister, the situation under El Rufai became so tense that residents from Southern Kaduna found it difficult to live freely in northern parts of the state, while some people from northern Kaduna relocated to the southern part.
Musa, however, said the administration of Governor Uba Sani had made significant efforts to restore unity and rebuild trust among residents.
“We know how it was when El Rufai was there; it was toxic,” Musa said.
“El Rufai did a lot of terrible things in Kaduna State. He divided the country, the state, into two. In that, if you are from the south, you cannot go to the north to live. Those ones from the north were moving to the south.”
The Defence Minister said the current administration had helped improve relations among residents, although he acknowledged that the process of reconciliation was not yet complete.
“Governor Sani within one year has been able to dissolve all that. You see, now everybody is free, everybody has a say. It’s not 100%. Let me tell you, it’s not 100%, but you can see that he’s making deliberate effort in uniting the state,” he said.
Musa said many people in Southern Kaduna remained deeply affected by the killings recorded during El Rufai’s tenure.
Asked about the feelings of residents towards the former governor, he alleged that El Rufai deliberately planned attacks that resulted in the deaths of people in the region.
“I think if there’s anything worse than unhappy, we can never be happy with somebody who has deliberately planned for the killing of our people,” Musa said.
He further alleged that El Rufai had openly spoken about some of his actions while in office, including claims concerning payments to bandits.
“He told us he paid bandits. He told us he did this, he did that. He didn’t hide it. He was that arrogant to come out and tell people that this was what he did,” the minister said.
Musa said the people of Southern Kaduna were still traumatised by the violence, while maintaining that the security situation in the area had improved under the present administration.
“The Southern Kaduna people are still very pained. Of course, definitely. I mean, if you look at the number of killings that was done there and what is going on now, you can’t compare at all,” he said.
The minister also accused the former governor of denying some residents access to opportunities during his administration, alleging that his policies affected people from his own part of Kaduna as well.
“I can tell you what he has done to people living in Kaduna from his own area. He did a lot of things that I’m sure even him is not proud of,” Musa added.
Musa called on Nigerians to reject politicians who use religion, ethnicity or other differences to create divisions.
“We should get politicians that want to unite Nigeria. For me, any individual who is using either religion, tribe, creed, or anything to divide the state can never be a friend; can never be somebody we look up to,” he said.
“We shouldn’t have those kind of ones in government. Anybody who is using religion or tribe or whatever to divide Nigeria is an enemy of the state.”
