Slain ‘herdsmen’ were terrorists from Sudan, BEPU tells Kaduna govt

Birnin-Gwari Emirate Progressive Union (BEPU) in Birnin Gwari Local Govern­ment Area of Kaduna State has disclosed that the sup­posedly lynched ‘herders’ in the area on Sunday were ter­rorists mercenaries from the Republic of Sudan.

Ishaq Usman Kasai, Chair­man of BEPU, made the disclosure in a statement on Monday.

Kasai stated the alleged lynched persons were not herdsmen as falsely reported earlier but interna­tional criminal syndicates that have been terrorising Birnin-Gwari Local Govern­ment Area, saying they have their ID cards.

It would be recalled that Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, had on Sunday con­demned the murder of two persons by a mob in Birnin Gwari Local Government Area. The governor had ex­pressed concern over the vi­olent action.

However, BEPU chairman said findings revealed that the alleged lynching occurred after the suspects forcefully snatched a motorcycle from a farmer at the outskirts of Birnin-Gwari main town.

According to the chair­man, BEPU is concerned to observe that the statement issued by government on the issue did not equally capture the real issue and commiserated with the in­nocent citizens of Birnin- Gwari that were attacked at different locations for the past five days.

“More so, on the same day when the mob action oc­curred, one driver was killed and scores were kidnapped at Dogon Hawa and Tabanni ar­eas. This is in addition to kill­ings and kidnapping of the innocent citizens of Birnin- Gwari on the roads, in farms and their homes which have become a daily occurrence”, Kasai stated.

The statement appreciated the efforts of security agen­cies towards restoring peace in the area and urged govern­ment officials in showing con­cerns to any ugly situation to always be in a cautious mood in issuing any statement that is capable of undermining the peace-loving, helpless people that are under siege by the terrorists. It said this is with a view to averting further es­calation of the situation.

However, BEPU said it was saddened with the mob ac­tion by the aggrieved youths in Birnin-Gwari on Sunday where two alleged ‘herds­men’ were killed in a cruel and gruesome manner.

“BEPU, a distinct and peaceful union, is clearly against any form of mob ac­tion under any guise and is hereby drawing the attention of the citizens not to resort to taking laws into their hands irrespective of frustration and provocation.

“Citizens are urged to al­ways channel their grievanc­es to appropriate authorities and above all continue to devote themselves to prayers for divine intervention in the current insecurity situation.

“The union once more appreciates the efforts and successes recorded by the resilient security forces in their efforts to sanitise Birnin- Gwari general area and calls on them to step-up the opera­tions into communities that surround Birnin-Gwari town where bandits are currently demanding and forcing com­munities to pay ‘protection fee’ and crop harvesting lev­ies, respectively.

“Clearly, while the lynch­ing of suspected bandits is highly condemnable, the union observes with deep concern the way the issue has been reported to selec­tively and deliberately por­tray Birnin Gwari in the bad taste, and targeted to prove a false narrative on the issue to endanger the helpless inno­cent citizens of Birnin-Gwari Local Government Area.

“While we appreciate gov­ernment’s resolve to investi­gate and bring perpetrators of this primitive act to book, we equally observe that, govern­ment officials seem to be so in haste in issuing the sensitive statement without scrutiny of the identities of the ‘alleged herders’ that were lynched by mob action”, the statement noted.