By Abdullahi Ahmad Bamalli
The Middle Belt Forum (MBF), has asked the Department of State Services (DSS) and other relevant security agencies to prosecute former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, over a viral video it said could cause religious tension.
The forum asked the security services to not only place the former governor under scrutiny, but also invite him to a chat with the secret police.
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The middle belt expressed dissatisfaction with the remark made by the former Kaduna state governor in the viral video.
At a meeting with Islamic clerics that was conducted on the eve of his departure as Kaduna State governor, el-Rufai told the preachers on how he, with others, plotted to enthrone the same-faith ticket in the state that was later successfully replicated at the federal level.
But the Middle Belt Forum said El-Rufai and his like just want to throw the country into a religious tension.
A statement issued by the national publicity secretary, Dr Isuwa Dogo, said the former governor recalled that he, with others, were determined to ensure the Muslim-Muslim ticket was sustained for another 20 years to ensure Christians come to terms with the indispensability of the same-faith ticket as a panacea for peace in both the state and the federal level.
“What he never told his selected preachers was that the state he ruled and ruined for eight years was turned into Nigeria’s headquarters of kidnappings and human barbarities that led to the murder of tens of thousands of people and decimation of over 100 communities under his watch.
“The MBF, as the socio-cultural organisation for ethnic nationalities that are mostly Christians of the Middle Belt Region, is outraged by the deceitful attempts by el-Rufai and his nebulous co-travellers to push our nation down the slippery slope of religious tension and bigotry. The outrage over the el-Rufai video clip demonstrates the level of disappointment by Nigerians over the former governor’s outburst that was aimed at inflaming religious conflagration in order to destabilise the Nigerian State.
“The unfortunate comments by this bigot, who is erroneously thought of as a nationalist and public intellectual, portray him as a divisive leader who not only thrives in creating chaos, but also reveal him as an irredeemable religious extremist whose antecedents as governor showcases him as a treacherous enemy of Nigeria that must be barred from the corridor of power. Even before now, the forum has never been deceived by the pretentiousness of the former governor whose stock in trade is divisiveness hidden under the thin covering of a public intellectualism and patriotism.”
