By; FUNMI OROYE ADERINTO, Kaduna
The Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir Ahmad el-Rufai, on Monday said that it has been working with security agencies to fortify the general area of Southern Kaduna to deter escalation and reassure citizens of their safety.
Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Samuel Aruwan disclosed this while briefing Government House correspondents.
He said the military authorities notified the Kaduna State Government of an attack at Ungwan Mailafiya community that occurred late Sunday night, which follows an attack at Nimdem on the night of 23rd December 2017.
According to the statement, the Commander of Operation Safe Haven, who has temporarily moved to Kafanchan to coordinate the operation, has confirmed that more assets are being deployed to the Southern Kaduna area.
He said, the government is saddened by the latest developments which amount to serious threats to the lives and safety of peace-loving citizens.
He stressed that, negative elements must not be allowed to undo all the hard work done to restore peace and security.
He expressed that, Government commiserates with the victims and their families. All our communities are enjoined to stand together, and support the security agencies to thwart what looks like a predetermined plot to create anarchy around this period.
This has clearly failed, and we enjoin all citizens to put hands together to deny the criminalsany opportunity of succeeding in their evil plans.
Citizens are encouraged to report any threat to peace, law and order within the Kaduna South Senatorial district to the officials of Operation Safe Haven, the special security task force in the area, on the following numbers:
• 08021212139
• 08149000091
• 08090498333
• 08074633336
The government notes the commendable efforts of community leaders in the wake of the Nimdem attacks, and urges continued engagements to prevent escalation.
He urged the Community leaders, including the clergy, traditional leaders and other critical stakeholders like community based associations must continue to work together to ensure that peace is upheld.
These efforts of the community leaders reflect a deep desire for peace, which needs to be sustained in order to collectively deter those who wish to spread hostility and divide our communities.
The government is assured that the security agencies will continue to pursue the criminal elements who perpetrated this act and their sponsors, he stated.
