SOUTHERN KADUNA KILLINGS: Media rights group writes Buhari, says crisis may spread

Nigerian media rights group, Journalists for Democratic Rights (JODER), has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to launch an intensive campaign aimed at mopping up arms in the hands of non-state actors across the country, especially in the northern states. The media group also urged the President to create time to visit Southern Kaduna, saying such a step will boost trust in his government. It called on Buhari to impress on northern leaders an all-embracing ethnic and religious conference to deal with the festering crisis in the region. JODER, whose officials recently paid visits to flashpoints in the North, warned that the on-going blood-letting in Southern Kaduna has the potential of throwing the entire country into a faith-induced mayhem. In a letter addressed to Mr. President and signed by the group’s Executive Director, Mr Adewale Adeoye, after the visit, the group said the crisis in Kaduna had led to ‘arms rivalry’ and a ‘spiral rise’ in competition by contenting parties to procure arms and ammunition in anticipation of current or future conflict. “This comes in the absence of public trust in the mediation strategies of the authorities concerned”, JODER said.