Middle Belt Forum Backs Defence Minister Musa, Accuses El-Rufai of Complicity in Southern Kaduna Killings, Demands ICC Probe
Our Correspondent
The Middle Belt Forum (MBF) has declared solidarity with the Minister of Defence, Gen. Christopher Gwabin Musa (rtd), over his recent comments accusing former Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, of complicity in the killings in Southern Kaduna.
At a press conference addressed by its National Spokesman, Mr. Luka Binniyat, in Kaduna on, September 8, 2026, the MBF said the historical record of Kaduna State under el-Rufai supports Gen. Musa’s allegations on Channels Television’s Politics Today on September 3.
Gen. Musa had said on the programme: “We can never be happy with somebody who has deliberately planned for the killing of our people,” referring to el-Rufai. He also alleged that the former Governor admitted to paying bandits.
The MBF said it was speaking as a witness, as Southern Kaduna is part of the Middle Belt.
The Forum accused the el-Rufai administration of arresting community leaders whose communities were attacked, instead of arresting the attackers.
It cited three instances: the 2016 arrest of the District Head of Goska, Mr. Moses Barde, after Goska community in Jema’a LGA was attacked; the arrest and dethronement of the B’Gwam Kurama, Dr. Ishaku Sabo Damina, after he handed a suspected criminal to the military in 2016; and the March 2021 arrest of 15 Atyap leaders over alleged killing of 706 cows.
The Forum claimed at least three of the Atyap leaders died shortly after release from detention, and that Dr. Damina died in 2021 from trauma suffered in prison. Kajuru Killings and Curfews: The MBF also revisited the Kajuru crisis of February 2019, when Governor el-Rufai announced that 66 Fulani people had been killed in Kajuru, a figure he later raised to 130 and then 133. The Forum recalled that the then Commissioner of Police in Kaduna, Alhaji Abdulrahman Ahmad, faulted the Governor for pre-empting police investigation. It said the announcement was followed by reprisal attacks on communities including Karamai, Ungwan Barde, Inkirimi and Dogonnoma, where over 100 people were reportedly killed.
It further alleged that nine Adara leaders, including the President of the Adara Development Association, Mr. Awemi Dio Maisamari, were arrested and spent over 100 days in prison.
The MBF said the Federal High Court in Kaduna awarded the leaders N900 million in damages in 2024, ruling that their detention was unlawful.
The Forum also alleged that the el-Rufai government weaponized curfews against Southern Kaduna. It said that in December 2016, January 2017 and July-August 2020, 24-hour curfews were imposed on Jema’a and Zangon Kataf LGAs while attacks continued, leaving communities defenceless.
It claimed that during the 2020 curfew alone, at least 26 Atyap villages were burnt and over 200 people were killed, without a single arrest of the attackers.
The MBF said Gen. Musa’s reference to “our people” includes over 1,000 Shiite members killed in Zaria in December 2015, whose leaders were subsequently detained.
The Forum also accused the former administration of mass dismissal of about 22,000 primary school teachers and about 35,000 workers in total, as well as demolition exercises in Gbagyi Villa that allegedly led to deaths, including that of a 62-year-old woman, Mrs. Mary Audu, in 2016.
“The people of Kaduna deserve the truth. The appropriate response is not intimidation or blackmail, but to investigate and establish the truth,” Binniyat said.
The Middle Belt Forum (MBF) called for an end to what it described as intimidation and political blackmail against the Minister.
It also demanded that former Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, be investigated for alleged crimes against humanity, with a call for his prosecution at the International Criminal Court (ICC) if found culpable.
MBF called for an independent and credible investigation into allegations that the el-Rufai administration paid bandits and other armed groups, citing the denial by Gen. Martin Agwai that his committee ever recommended such payments.
The Forum demanded a comprehensive review of unresolved cases of mass killings in Southern Kaduna during el-Rufai’s tenure, including the October 2018 kidnapping and murder of the Agwom Adara, Dr. Raphael Maiwada Galadima.
It called for a proper investigation into deaths and injuries allegedly linked to demolition exercises carried out across Kaduna State under the former administration.
As at press time, the former Governor or his aides have not responded to MBF’s press conference.
However, the former governor has in the past denied complicity in the Southern Kaduna killings and defended his security and reform policies as necessary measures to restore peace and order in the state.
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