'Provide Military Meaningful Information' - Group To Southern Kaduna Indigenes

Members of the Southern Kaduna Indigenous Peace Practitioners (SOKIPEP) have appealed to indigenes of Kaduna State to cooperate with the military by providing them with meaningful information to aid them in their fight against the insurgency plaguing the region.

Speaking for the group was the National Coordinator, SOKIPEP, Dauda Fadia, on Monday, who said that supplying the military with false information is "counter-productive", as such actions will not help security agencies "nip the crisis in their domain in the bud."

The group also stated that Southern Kaduna was experiencing some "relative peace", owing to the efforts of the military.

Fadia said, “We observed with dismay that sometimes, the military promptly responds to the information given to them by our people only to realize the information was fake. This is counter-productive and not healthy for people that want the security agencies to nip the crisis in their domain in the bud.

READ ALSO: Southern Kaduna Killings: Eight Suspects Arrested

“We, as SOKIPEP, note with sadness the remarks made by some women protesters recently where they reportedly linked military personnel working in the area to the crisis.

“While we are not holding brief for the military, we wish to strongly state that contrary to the position of these few, Southern Kaduna is today enjoying some relative peace because of the relentless and ceaseless efforts of the military in securing our lives. The troops are usually seen in our villages at night on patrols working with the vigilante groups.

“These unfortunate remarks by the women, to say the least, is premature and capable of weakening the morale of the military but also derailing their efforts to restore peace in Southern Kaduna.

“We in SOKIPEP appreciate their rights to protest and also to express grief and emotions but we wish to state clearly that the military should not be drawn into the Southern Kaduna issue.

“Our members constitute most of the vigilante members and cut across the entire Southern Kaduna. We have been working closely with the military on patrol and sharing intelligence, which has greatly reduced the number of attacks and even casualties. We are also aware that they have prevented some attacks.”