Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, on Thursday, held a closed-door meeting with critical stakeholders drawn from Atyap, Fulani, and Hausa communities, all of Atyap chiefdom of Zango Kataf over the killings in Southern Kaduna area.
The military, police and other intelligence agencies alongside observers from international organisations, and other resource persons who have been involved in arbitration and mediation in the Southern Kaduna crises were also part of the meeting.
There have been issues of land disputes, kidnappings and killings over the years, with the community leaders pointing accusing fingers against one another, leading to the escalation of violence in recent times in Atyap chiefdom in Zango Kataf Local Government Area of the state.
The meeting was part of the last push by the state government to find a lasting solution to the intractable crisis rocking the various communities in the southern part of the state over the years.
Speaking to journalists shortly after the meeting which lasted about four hours, some of the stakeholders noted that issues discussed were coming with mediate, mid-term and long-term solutions.
They described it as a fruitful meeting and prayed that they would have a breakthrough at the end of the day.
The Kaduna State Chairman, Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, Haruna Usman, told journalists at the end of the meeting that the aggrieved parties who attended the meeting had agreed to settle their differences and live in peace.
He said only dialogue and not guns could resolve the crises rocking the various communities in the southern part of the state.
He said, “We are so worried about our governor that is leaving us in a few days from now. We are praying that we can get somebody like him that is going to do what he’s doing now (peace initiative). But we have agreed that we are going to settle our differences. (Punch)
