The heads of security agencies in Kaduna State have confirmed the killing of 66 persons by yet-to-be-identified gunmen in Kajuru Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
This was made known in a statement by the Kaduna State Government after Governor Nasir el-Rufai visited the troubled area on Sunday.
According to the statement signed by the spokesman of the Governor, Samuel Aruwan, the heads of security agencies that accompanied El-Rufai on the visit and who confirmed the killings included Major General Faruk Yahaya, GOC 1 Division of the Nigerian Army; Air Commodore I. Sani of the Nigerian Air Force; Police Commissioner, Ahmad Abdurrahman; and State Director of the Department of State Services, A.I. Koya.
During the visit on Saturday, the governor warned against reprisals and urged communities to shun violence and respect the right of everyone to live in peace.
Yahaya briefed the governor on the recovery of 66 corpses by soldiers in Maro and Iri axis of the local government.
The General conducted El-Rufai around the scenes of the crime, which were littered with the burnt wrecks of buildings and dead animals.
Abdurrahman confirmed some arrests had been made in connection with the incident and the suspects will be charged to court as soon as investigations are completed.
Aruwan said in the statement: “The Kaduna State Government notes the concerted and apparently coordinated efforts by bigoted busybodies to deny the Kajuru killings, or to minimise the casualty figures, and the specious arguments being deployed in this despicable quest. The Kaduna State Government condemns in the strongest terms attempts to politicise the killings.
“Only irresponsible and insensitive people can recklessly dismiss the deaths of members of a community with whom they have no contact.
“Private individuals and unelected actors cannot be allowed to reduce weighty matters of state security to the province of their limited networks, inexperienced lenses and narrow agendas.
“The government of a state cannot be detained by parochial, ethno-religious, partisan or electoral calculations from doing its duty to provide security, confirm incidents of security breaches, take steps to reassure affected communities and ensure that perpetrators are arrested and brought to justice.”