The Middle Belt Forum (MBF) has backed the Minister of Defence, Gen Christopher Gwabin Musa (retd.), insisting that former Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, should be the one to apologise to the people of Southern Kaduna.
National Publicity Secretary of the forum, Luka Binniyat, stated this at a press conference in Kaduna on Tuesday while reacting to demands by the El-Rufai family for the Defence Minister to apologise over his remarks concerning the former governor.
Binniyat said the forum was not speaking on behalf of Musa but as witnesses to events that occurred in Kaduna State during El-Rufai’s administration.
‘Gen Musa is not going to apologize; instead, Elrufai should be the one to apologize to the people of southern Kaduna,’ he said.
He added, ‘If the family insisted on taking the General to court, we have enough evidence to tender against El-Rufai.’
The MBF spokesman further maintained, ‘MBF is not a mouthpiece for Gen. Musa. We are speaking as witnesses to what happened in Kaduna State during that period since Southern Kaduna is part of the Middle Belt.’
The forum alleged that ‘what changed under El-Rufai was deliberate targeting of peaceful vulnerable rural communities for annihilation, which his actions and utterances encouraged.’
The MBF, therefore, expressed solidarity with Musa over his remarks concerning what it described as the painful history of El-Rufai’s ‘seeming complicity in the mass murder of our people of the Middle Belt part of Kaduna State and other parts of state.’
The forum also said, ‘It is of the opinion of the MBF that El-Rufai should be charged with crimes against humanity and be handed to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for proper prosecution.’
It called for an independent and credible investigation into allegations of payments to bandits or other armed groups during the El-Rufai administration.
‘We want a review of unresolved cases of mass killings in Southern Kaduna during the period of El-Rufai’s tenure, including the circumstances surrounding the kidnapping and murder of Agwom Adara, Dr. Raphael Maiwada.Galadima in October 2018.’
The forum also called for an investigation into deaths and injuries allegedly associated with controversial demolition exercises carried out under the former administration.
‘We call for a proper investigation into deaths and injuries associated with controversial demolition exercises under the former administration of Nasir el-Rufai.’
Concluding, the MBF said the people of Kaduna State deserved to know the truth about the issues raised by the Defence Minister.
‘Finally, the Middle Belt Forum believes that the people of Kaduna deserve the truth. Gen. Christopher Musa has raised a salient point. The appropriate response is not intimidation, insults, or political blackmail. The appropriate response is to investigate the issues and establish the truth.’