A PRESS STATEMENT BY AWEMI DIO MAISAMARI PRESIDENT ADARA DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION ON 7TH JULY, 2020.
Adara community is still bedevilled with attacks, kidnappings and occupation of displaced communities the latest of which are the villages around Doka, Afogo, Kallah, Gefe and Libere all bordering Ladugga grazing reserve. Our farmers are still routinely attacked and sometimes killed when they go to their farms. In the latest incidents on 2nd and 5th of July, 2020, two women at Doka were seriously wounded and one man named Yohanna Mutane was killed at Maraban Kajuru respectively. Also, in some of the numerous kidnapping incidents in May and June 2020, one person was killed and more than Fifteen persons abducted for ransom. With happenings like these, our community is yet to know peace.
Adara Development Association is therefore, still passionately appealing to the state and federal governments to take necessary steps to restore law, order and genuine peace in Adara land. We are also appealing for oversight by the public and international communities to protect human dignity, minority rights, justice and equity.
Meanwhile a peace building committee on Kajuru led by Hon. Yakubu Barde, a member of the National Assembly Representing Chikun/Kajuru Federal Constituency submitted it’s report to the Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir Elrufai in mid-June, 2020. On 30th June, 2020, those who were in attendance briefed other Adara elders about the measures the Governor said he intends to take on the crisis. The Adara Development Association has now realized that in reality, some of the measures amount to punitive actions against Adara nation. One of them is the withdrawal of all security agents in Kajuru LGA if there is no peace with Fulani herdsmen. This seems like another open invitation to the well armed Fulani militia to overrun and take over the already decimated Adara nation. Another decision of the Governor is to go ahead and implement the unjust gazette scrapping Adara Chiefdom which is being challenged in court by Adara community. We are also shocked to hear that in spite of all the atrocities, horrors and agonies that our community has been going through, the Governor is still accusing Adara people of hostility towards Hausa/Fulani residents in Adara land. But most startling of all is the Governor’s assertion that the Hausa/Fulani settlement of Kajuru is older than Adara community thereby aluding that they have more rights over the land than Adara nation. We think such wrong perception may be the reason why our community is being treated unfairly and disrespectfully in their only homeland on earth. Our position is that purported first settlers (Hausa/Fulani Muslims of Kajuru) in a large and purportedly empty region like Adara land will not take possession of only less than 1% of the area and leave the rest for later arrivals. Therefore, such falsehood is not logical in its entirety.
Furthermore, we find the Governor’s peace move as most inadequate because it involves only handpicked participants in Adara community. We fear and wish to alert the public that this may be a ploy to extract unjustifiable concessions from some members of our community to legitimize subsequent unpopular government actions. Therefore, Adara Development Association wishes to unequivocally state the minimum demands of the community in any engagement as follows:
i. One of the major objectives of the engagement shall be the restoration of Adara Chiefdom as being prayed for in a suit pending before a court of competent jurisdiction. We were informed by participants in the discussions that there was no objection to this demand during committee deliberations.
ii. Any proper and binding engagement with our community on our grievances should, among others include recognized representatives chosen by Adara community in the process of reaching the agreements. The Association will disassociate itself from any group of people, report, decision or action that is not consistent with these two minimum conditions.
Thank you
