NAN-H-105
Crisis
By Dorcas Elusogbon
Ile-Ife (Osun), March 14, 2017 (NAN) Sen. Rabiu Kwankwaso,(APC- Kano Central) on Tuesday said there would be no reprisal attacks against the Yoruba living in the North following the crisis in Ile-Ife on March 8.
Kwankwaso said this in Sabo area of Ile-Ife after meeting with members of the Hausa community inside a mosque.
The former Kano State governor, who was in company with Gov. Rauf Aregbesola and Sen. Babajide Omoworare (APC-Osun East), told journalists that he was in Osun to promote peace and the rule of law.
According to him, the Kwankwasiya Foundation will offer the victims of the crisis succour as from next week.
He urged members of the Hausa community to resist the temptation to take laws into their hands and further breach the peace gradually returning to the affected area.
Also speaking, Gov. Rauf Aregbesola stressed the significance of peaceful co-existence in spite of the activities of the hoodlums which led to the incident.
He said security agencies had arrested some suspects in connection with the crisis, adding that the perpetrators would face the full wrath of the law.
Aregbesola further said that the state government would help set up a Peace and Reconciliation Committee with a view to finding a permanent solution to the crisis.
Receiving Kwankwaso on behalf of the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, the Obalufe of Ife kingdom, Idowu Adediwura, recalled that Hausa had been living in Ife since 1894 without any fear of molestation.
He attributed the incident to the activities of miscreants, saying Ife had been generally peaceful .
The traditional ruler commended the efforts made by Kwankwanso toward resolving the crisis while appealing to security agents to handle the issue with fairness and objectivity.
“We are creatures of Almighty God, hence we are all citizens of the world and we abhor bloodletting in all its ramifications, ” he stated.
The News Agency of Nigeria(NAN) reports that the National Emergency Management Agency(NEMA) and its state’s counterpart had distributed some relief materials to the victims of the communal clash.(NAN)
EDA/OSA/OJO
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(Edited by Shittu Obassa/Mufutau Ojo)