Give SP James Ashafa Medals Not Misery: A Press Release By Netzit Patriotic Front

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Give SP James Ashafa Medals Not Misery: A Press Release By Netzit Patriotic Front 11 August 2016

We, Members of the Netzit Patriotic Front, have reliably gathered that the SP James Ashafa, DPO Kafanchan, who led the police team that bravely and gallantly repel the terrorists that attacked Godogodo Chiefdom a week earlier, is presently facing serious charges and threats from his boss, the Area Commander ACP Ibrahim Abubakar. According to the information, his boss was heard querying him on why he had to waste too much time on a very small operation as the Godogodo massacre and threatened to redeploy him.      


On the 2 August 2016, about four communities in the Godogodo Chiefdom: Angwan Anjo, Akwa'a, Gada Biyu and Golkofa of Jama'a local government area of Kaduna State, came under heavy attack by terrorists; killing persons and razing down houses.

According to the president of the mother body SOKAPU, Barrister Solomon Kaptain Musa, in a press release on 8 August 2016 titled THE EXISTENTIAL THREATS TO SOUTHERN KADUNA PEOPLE; on receiving a distress call from Godogodo district on that fateful day, he immediately sent distress calls to several government officials and those calls were treated with levity even where it was established that the Barrister SK Musa is not given to idle calls. After about four hours (2.44pm to 6.30pm) of a positive response from a government official, more distress calls kept pouring in from the communities indicating the absence of government response even where they were in the know many hours earlier. In the SOKAPU report, we learnt that the whole houses in Angwan Anjo were razed down on 3 August 2016, a day after the invaders were said to be repelled.
By 4 August 2016 around 0500hrs, the El-Rufai Interim Management Committee Chairman of Jema'a Local Goverment, Dr. Bege Katuka Humble disclosed that the security operatives he requested for from the Governor, were yet to arrive. In that Facebook update, the IMC chairman spoke of sighting the invaders with RPGs (Rocket Propelled Grenades) as they were being repelled by the security operatives - operatives he admitted were very brave. The chairman praised SEMA (State Emergency Management Agency) for prompt response with relief materials and suggested that only dialogue can re-establish trust and bring a lasting solution to the recurring massacres as he excused the massacres on bitterness between the natives and fulanis. The chairman hinted that there would be more massacres if the affected communities refuse to sit and dialogue. In the chairman's exact words:    

"...the presence of physical security is only a part time solution, what happens next when they're withdrawn... That is why I value dialogue and reconciliation... It is on this note that I strongly believe that only when this trust and confidence is restored that effective and permanent security wld be guarantee... For it is better to jaw-jaw than to war-war It is on this note that I requested the chief of Godogodo to assemble all the Chiefs and Ardos of the Fulani, the leadership of Miyetti Allah, the representative of the displaced Fulani from Ninte now refugee in Nunku village in Nasarawa state, the displaced fulani people from Gada Biyu and all the stakeholders..."

On 5 August 2016 around 2218hrs, the Jama'a Local Government Interim Chairman, Katuka Humble, put up another Facebook update indicating that the proposed meeting was held. However, he didn't state the resolution reached in the meeting, but hinted that the meeting was the usual circus show where every side expresses his readiness and willingness for peace, albeit without sincerity. Hear him in his exact words again:

"...I am not concern by the words of peace we'll all be claiming to be preaching when we are in a gathering like this. I am concerned about what we do tell our followers as leaders when we are alone with them. Because if we are sincere in our dealings we'll be able to have a controlled people under us that will learn to tolerate one another..."

Our Observations:

1. We have seen the resilience and urgency given at both federal and state levels against cattle rustlers. We have seen how the Kaduna State government deployed the full weight of the military against cattle rustlers in Birnin Gwari and how special forces were trained and deployed specifically for the same reason with even Mr. President commissioning one at Zamfara State in July 2016. We wonder why the same military could not be deployed against human murderers in Southern Kaduna given that the safety of lives is the primary objectives of government. And it beats us that even the poorly equipped police that were reluctantly deployed and had their efforts praised by the IMC chair, could have their boss ACP Ibrahim Abubakar, coming down hard on SP JM Ashafa, on the jaundiced premises of wasting unnecessary time on the Godogodo human murderers. Who gave the assailants RPGs and assist in allowing easy passage of such weapons with a sectionally corrupted security apparatchik.  
 
2. Why was SOKAPU president's distress calls and messages treated with levity by government officials. And why was Angwan Anjo razed to the ground even after the police were able to repel the assailants. Why weren't soldiers deployed even as late as 4 August even where the government was informed as early as 2 August in the heat of the assaults. This further throws light on why SP James Ashafa was queried instead of praised for doing a good job of repelling the assailants.    

3. Given one and two above, We have every reason to share in the observation made by SOKAPU on why this fresh assaults were coinciding with the resistance of the people to grazing reserve.

4. The observation in three above, raised serious questions with respect to the stakeholders meeting organised on Friday 5 August 2016 by the interim Chairman of Jama'a. The chairman's insistence that only dialogue with the fulanis could bring lasting peace in the area also consolidates observation number three. One then is forced to ask what becomes of the governor's campaign pledge that no one will kill another and go scot-free. What becomes of the governor's instituted General Martin Agwai's peace and reconciliation committee. Is the governor so reckless that he makes useless pledges and institute useless committees. Or was Godogodo not captured by the Agwai committee that the interim chairman had to initiate another round of dialogue. If dialogue was the solution why did we have Bondong massacre in the first quarter of 2014 after Barnabas Bantex organised a similar one. And we could not understand why the chairman was quick to excuse the fulanis by finding reasons behind their attacks in tandem with the governor's reprisal attacks philosophy where he stops short of blaming the Ninte youth avenging the murder of one of their own by a fulani man right in their own enclave as reason behind the attacks. You will recall that on the 6 April 2016, the Governor of Kaduna State Mallam Nasir El-Rufai justified such killings on reprisal attacks of the 2011 post-presidential election violence in which he claimed over 800 persons were killed in southern Kaduna. And most of those victims were foreign fulanis on their annual movement across west Africa. On that same day, the governor claimed the security in the state have improved and that Christians are 30 percent in the state.
5. In the text of the state broadcast to mark his first year in office 30 May 2016; the governor made the following statement:

"...I want to thank you for your support over the past year, and to assure you that we have used every day in office to do what we pledged to do to make Kaduna great again, to remake our state by enabling its government to do its primary duty of serving the people and improving their lives..."

A governor who cannot secure the people is talking about improving their lives. Do you improve lives in the grave? If the governor will deliberately wait for more than 72 hours after the Godogodo people were massacred to deploy troops, it clearly tells you he is not interested in their safety, not to even mention improving their lives. The governor is simply interested in a positive publicity for himself that he has acted. We strongly believe the people don't need government relief materials - if government can keep to their fundamental duty of ensuring security of lives and property, the people can fend for themselves.

6. And for those of us who come out to point out the hypocrisy of the El-Rufai's government, El-Rufai dismisses as blackmailers who were expecting to be settled by his government. Hear the governor himself: "...We have stopped distributing state resources to a vocal minority and have chosen to redirect them to social spending that will benefit the silent majority..." The benefit the silent majority are getting from El-Rufai are the banning of hawking, demolition of settlements in Alhudahuda Zaria and now Gbagyi Villa, the rising cost of living, the upward review of tax, the massive sack in the civil service, the non-payments of the newly recruited teachers and KASTELEA workers, the general insecurity that has taken a new dimension and etc. Anything the governor does is sacrosanct including justifying the continual massacres of the Southern Kaduna People and victimising SP James Ashafa for repelling the murderers through the ACP Ibrahim Abubakar. And refusing to deploy troops on time and cajoling the interim chair to dance to his music. Those who question the governor's hypocrisy were immediately seen as the blackmailers, the vocal minority who want government settlements and automatically demonised by El-Rufai and his stooges. Dr John Danfulani questioned El-Rufai and he was victimised, suspended and incarcerated. The Doctor eventually resigned from the school. Though the court has finally dismissed the suit filed by the state government and KASU for lack of merit, we the Netzit Patriots insist that Dr. John Danfulani needed to sue for damages given the unjust incarceration and victimisation he suffered from the State Goverment. The SOKAPU youth wing president, Nasiru Jagaba had to also resign from government employment after going vocal against the system and staged for victimisation. Rumours has it that the government is planning to victimise Jagaba like it did against Dr. John Danfulani even as Jagaba is no longer in government employment.        

Our Conclusions

1. It is clear that SP James Ashafa and his crew were sent to go and die or run away on sighting heavier firepower, given that the assailants were armed with RPGs against the lighter arms of the police and it came as a surprise that Ashafa and his crew returned in one piece and successful too. The charges Ashafa is presently facing is his refusal to allow himself and his crew to be mauled down by the assailants. Now we can comfortably deduce that the redeployment of Muslim Hausa Fulani police bosses all over the country were orchestrated with a mindset to commit crimes against humanity, against Christian communities by this government. Even the purported killings of soldiers in Niger State is something to look at closely.      

2. We have also reached the conclusions that the ethnic chauvinists and religious bigots in government have a secret agenda to perpetuate insecurity against other ethnic nationalities other than their own and it is now imperative on all other ethnic nationalities to rise to the occasion and secure themselves as the government is not for them. As government has shown clearly its unwillingness to keep its own side of the social contract by ensuring its primary responsibility of securing the people, the people also have no business in keeping their own side of the contract too.  

3. Is reprisal attack captured in the constitution from whence the governor and the chairman derived their legitimacy as chief servants over the people? If it is, why is the reprisal attack by the Ninte youth of taking one life for one life in the heart of their own enclave frowned at, but massacres by the fulani terrorists even though they were settlers condoned. If it is not, are the governor and chairman any better than traitors and common criminals for justifying 'unconstitutionalism' and need to resign from public offices to allow for more sane and responsible servants.        

4. The Area Commander ACP Ibrahim Abubakar should be interrogated. He may have a hand in the Godogodo massacres in collaboration with some high government officials, given their overt attempt to frustrate rescue mission. We have also come to the conclusions that governor El-Rufai is not honourable nor reliable enough to continue as governor of Kaduna State. And an unreliable person whose words are not his bond is unfit to serve the public. It is clear that the governor has been corrupted beyond redemption by the absolute power he wields in the state, and the only means where sanity and balance could be restored in the state is either a proper separation of power among the executive, legislative and judiciary is re-established to save the governor from himself and by extension the people, or the Governor resigns humbly and amicably.

George Makeri
Chairman
Netzit Patriotic Front