Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir el-Rufai, has come under fire from religious and traditional leaders over his threat to demolish Gonin Gora community, a Christian-dominated area along Kaduna – Abuja road.
On Saturday morning, during a state-wide broadcast, the governor threatened to demolish or relocate Gonin Gora community, if youth in the area refused to stop blocking roads and killing innocent people.
This was not received well by Christian leaders and traditional rulers who described the governor’s decision as unfortunate and unacceptable, although they urged residents in the area to remain peaceful and law abiding.
The Sarki Samarina, Akila Luka, urged residents to remain calm and not to take law into their hands. He stressed that any attempt to demolish the community would not be resisted, adding that Gonin Gora is a settlement dominated by Christians, according to Sahara Reporters.
The governor failed to threaten communities such as Mando, Nasarawa, Badiko, Ango Mazu, Pantaker and a host of others who are also guilty of the same accusation he levelled against Gonin Gora, according to Luka.
He said: “Anytime there is riot, people from these communities also block the highways indiscriminately. The governor has never said anything about those areas. Here in Gonin Gora, we don’t have problem; we are peaceful.”
Also speaking on the threat by the governor, Shekwolo Ayuba, Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Chikun Local Government, urged residents to be peaceful and not to take laws into their hands. He expressed concern over the threat of demolition, noting that it would subject the residents to untold hardship.
“We don’t know what the governor means, but we will wait and see what will happen. For someone to wake up one day and say that he will demolish the entire community is unacceptable,” he said.
Gonin Gora, which is located along Kaduna – Abuja road, is a community of more than 800,000 people, and is home to a large percentage of Christians.
