Practitioners (SOKAPEP) have declared the region as peaceful following the deployment of troops that quelled the perennial killings.
SOKAPEP said the declaration became an expedient sequel to an alarm raised by the Spokesperson of Southern Kaduna Peoples Union (SOKAPU), Luka Binniyat, that the region still witnesses banditry and kidnapping.
In a statement by its National Coordinator, Rev. Dauda Fadia, the group warned those it christened “conflict merchants” against raising dust that would rupture the fragile peace.
It warned against distortion of facts deliberately geared towards division and stoking of ethnic and other tensions.
The group called on residents to assist Governor Nasir el-Rufai to deliver the dividends of democracy to the people.
“We, the Southern Peace Practitioners Forum ((SOKIPEP), wish to categorically state that, contrary to the lies being bandied about, peace has since returned to Southern Kaduna, against the wishes of some people who benefit from the misfortunes of our people.
“We wish to further debunk the false narrative of continuous attacks’ on Southern Kaduna communities and to note, however, that the few cases of criminality in the area, are not peculiar to any particular tribe or ethnic origin.
“In one word, we dare to say that there is no empirical evidence to show that some villages in Southern Kaduna have been sacked, neither is there any occupation of communities by a certain militia group.
“No doubt, the pockets of crimes that assail Southern Kaduna, are only defining characteristics of globalisation, and the attendant challenges,” the statement said.
The group said as an indigenous peace advocacy group, it was committed to harmonious co-existence of the various ethnic groups in Kaduna South.
