BREAKING NEWS: Chief Of Jere Attacked In Southern Kaduna (UPDATED)
The Chief of Jere, a Hausa settlement in Southern Kaduna region of Kaduna state, Dr. Sa’ad Usman and husband of Senator Nenadi Usman is said to have been attacked this afternoon.
The information was confirmed by the credible source in Kagarko local government area.
According to the source, at first there was belief that the Chief may have been killed, however it was later confirmed that he is alive but had sustained injuries.
Although actual information of the attack is still sketchy, a source in the headquarters of the State Security Service (SSS) in Abuja said the attack is connected to certain crises brewing in Jere town and environs over land allegedly being forcefully claimed by the Fulani traditional ruler in a Koro and Gbagyi stronghold.
As is was provided by the SSS source,
“There are several security reports at our disposal that serious crisis is brewing in the area, the Gbagyi people wrote us that their ancestral lands are being seized by the Fulani Chief and that nothing is being done to address the crisis. And so it is possible this is part of the problem or it could be a case of gunmen attacking. Our Command in Kaduna has been alerted to make a preliminary investigation.”
As at the time of publishing this report, armed soldiers and police have been deployed to the area. Meanwhile medical personnel are treating the injured traditional chief.
UPDATE - January 4, 2014
The Kaduna State Police Commissioner, Olufemi Adenaike, has stated that Sa’ad Danlami Usman, a traditional Jere chieftain had not died, contrary to rumors. The assault on Mr. Usman arose from a simmering dispute over land ownership in his domain, Sahara Reporters learnt.
In a telephone interview with Sahara Reporters, the Police Commissioner confirmed the attack on the second class traditional ruler, but denied that he was killed, saying that he is currently being treated in the hospital.
The commissioner stated that the police had commenced an investigation into the fracas that led to the assault on Mr. Usman, adding that his command would do its best to ensure that peace returns in the communities.
A young man in the community named Shere Ibrahim told our correspondent that his people were fighting for survival and preservation of their ancestral land from the invasion of Fulani expansionists.
“What is happening here is the modern enslavement of Gbagyi people and [seizure of] their ancestral land by the Fulani Chief of Jere, who is a Pharaoh and powerful but we have only God and we will fight this with the last drop of our blood. This is a Chiefdom, but they are now claiming [to be an] Emirate. We Gbagyi cannot have a Fulani Emirate enslave us in our own land.”
He added that the Jere traditional ruler had used the expansion of roads from Kaduna to Abuja as a ruse to seize his people’s ancestral land in a campaign of occupation. It was alleged that his people’s numerous appeals to security agencies and governments had not yielded any intervention.
He attributed the indifference of security agencies to the fact that the traditional chief had political contacts in high places.
The ruler’s wife is Senator Nenadi Esther Usman, a former Minister of Finance, his nephew, Sani Sidi, serves as Director General of the Nigerian Emergency Management Agency and is a close ally of Vice President Namadi Sambo as well as Governor Mukhtar Yero of Kaduna State, and his son is a commissioner of special duties. “Who will hear our cry? This is the real issue. They cannot collect our ancestral land.”
Source: Legit.ng
