Police and other security agencies have been urged to probed the allegation made by Minister of Defence, General Christopher Musa (rtd.) that the former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai planned the killings in Southern Kaduna.
The call was made by a civil society organisation, the Communal Responsibility and Civic Minded Foundation at a press briefing on Thursday in Abuja.
Musa had, during an interview on Channels TV, accused El-Rufai of taking actions that deepened divisions and contributed to insecurity in Kaduna State during his administration between 2015 and 2023.
El-Rufai’s legal team swiftly countered with a demand for an unconditional apology, threatening defamation proceedings if the minister failed to retract his statements.
However, the CSO, led by Godwin Erheriene, insists that the gravity of the accusations requires transparent investigation rather than legal maneuvering or political intimidation.
“If statements attributed to the former governor concerning dealings with bandits exist in publicly available recordings, speeches, or interviews, then those materials should be examined objectively,” Erheriene stated during a world press conference in Abuja on Thursday. “What Nigeria does not need is intimidation, inflammatory rhetoric, or the weaponisation of political differences.”
It argued that as a native of Southern Kaduna and a former Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Musa speaks from decades of first-hand military intelligence and lived experience.
Rather than treating the matter solely as a civil defamation dispute, the Foundation urged anti-graft and security agencies to probe the allegations—including historical payments to armed non-state actors—to ensure official accountability for the violence that devastated Southern Kaduna communities.
COURTESY: dailytrust.com
