Kaduna Hunters Accuse el-Rufai Of Betrayal, Harrasment

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By; ALEX UANGBAOJE, Kaduna
A group of local hunters in Unguwan Shanu, Kaduna North Local Government Area, has accused the KadKaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai of betraying them by harassing, arresting and libeling them as criminal for no just cause.
The leader of the group, Usman Mohammed, who disclosed on Monday, while speaking to journalists in Kaduna, said, they have never been reported to have committed any criminal act, and that they are only performing their legitimate work as hunters without affiliation to any group or political party.  
He explained that their trouble started when they (local hunters) were, invited to a meeting at the office of the Special Adviser to Governor el-Rufai on Islamic Matters, Namadi Musa sometime late 2017, who told them that the government is willing to partner with them especially in area of tackling a local gangster popularly called ‘Sara-suka’.
Mohammed added that as a leader, he saw it as a good development because the group – Sara-suka is becoming a threat to peace and harmony in Kaduna metropolis.
“So we mobilized our members for the meeting at the said office. After the discussion our contacts and phone numbers were collected and we were told to standby for further directives.
“Surprisingly after some weeks have passed, we learnt that our members were being traced to their homes and picked up by security agents where they were taken into custody, beaten black and blue.
“I was not spared because I was arrested and after torturing, they asked me to write a statement indicting some prominent politicians in the state especially those perceived to be enemies of the government in power.
“I bluntly refused and was only set free after they saw that nothing was coming forth from me.  After my freedom, I went to the Special Adviser to Governor el-Rufai on Islamic Matters, Namadi Musa’s office to complain and informed him that all the people whose contacts and numbers were collected have been picked up.
“It is then he revealed to me that those members who attended the meeting in his office were thugs working for opponents of the government.  This is surprising to me, because all of my life, I have been a local hunter selling my games to people.
“Local hunters are not thugs.  Let me say here categorically that we are not being sponsored by anybody to work against the State Government, therefore, our members still under custody should be released and allowed to practice their inherited trade without hindrance,” he said.

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