Minister of Defence Christopher Musa has accused former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai of deliberately planning the killing of people in Southern Kaduna.
Musa made the allegation while fielding questions on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Thursday.
The minister said El-Rufai’s administration created deep divisions in Kaduna State, alleging that the situation made it difficult for residents from Southern Kaduna to live freely in the northern part of the state and vice versa.
According to him, the administration of the current governor, Uba Sani, has made deliberate efforts to restore unity and rebuild trust among residents of the state.
“We know how it was when El-Rufai was there; it was toxic,” Musa said.
“El-Rufai did a lot of terrible things in Kaduna State. He divided the country, the state, into two. In that, if you are from the south, you cannot go to the north to live. Those ones from the north were moving to the south.
“Governor Sani within one year has been able to dissolve all that. You see, now everybody is free, everybody has a say. It’s not 100%. Let me tell you, it’s not 100%, but you can see that he’s making deliberate effort in uniting the state.”
Speaking on the feelings of people in Southern Kaduna towards the former governor, Musa said the people remained deeply pained over killings recorded in the area during El-Rufai’s tenure.
He alleged that El-Rufai deliberately planned the killing of people in the region.
“Well, I don’t know if unhappy is an issue. I think if there’s anything worse than unhappy, we can never be happy with somebody who has deliberately planned for the killing of our people,” Musa said.
“I mean, when you look at it, if you look at his videos, you know, his speeches, he was very proud of what he did.
“He told us he paid bandits. He told us he did this, he did that. He didn’t hide it. He was that arrogant to come out and tell people that this was what he did.”
The Defence Minister said residents of Southern Kaduna were still traumatised by the killings that occurred during the period, adding that the security situation in the area had improved under the current administration.
“The Southern Kaduna people are still very pained. Of course, definitely. I mean, if you look at the number of killings that was done there and what is going on now, you can’t compare at all,” he said.
Musa further accused El-Rufai of denying some people opportunities during his administration and alleged that the former governor’s policies affected even people from his own part of the state.
“I can tell you what he has done to people living in Kaduna from his own area. He did a lot of things that I’m sure even him is not proud of,” he added.
The minister, however, called on Nigerians to reject politicians who exploit religion, ethnicity and other differences to divide the country.
“We should get politicians that want to unite Nigeria. For me, any individual who is using either religion, tribe, creed, or anything to divide the state can never be a friend; can never be somebody we look up to,” Musa said.
“We shouldn’t have those kind of ones in government. Anybody who is using religion or tribe or whatever to divide Nigeria is an enemy of the state.”
