The fresh attacks and killing of 15 peasants in Dansadau community in Zamfara State at the weekend is a testament that Northerners wasted their votes in electing President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015.

The above is the submission of leader of Coalition Against Killings in Northern Nigeria (CAKIN), Mr Murtala Abubakar.

Condemning the tragic incidents yesterday, Abubakar said Northerners wasted their votes “because they thought his administration could defeat Boko Haram and banditry.”

Specifically, Abubakar’s comments were coming on the heels of the assertion by National Security Adviser (NSA), Mr Mohammed Monguno, a retired major general, that no president in Nigeria had ever spent money on the purchase of arms like Buhari.

Monguno, in an interview with the DW Hausa Service, said that he knew Buhari had spent so much on arms because he was in government.

However, civil rights activist and politician, Nàja’atu Mohammed, who claimed to have introduced Buhari to politics, telling the world that he was a democrat, regretted the recent happenings in the country and condemned the detention of peaceful protesters against continued killings in the North.

According to Abubakar, four Adara men were killed for putting off fire on some Fulani settlements in Doka, Kajuru Council of Kaduna State by their people who queried their association with the Fulani.

His words, “Three days ago, Fulani were kidnapped by bandits in Kajuru and Kachia. I wish to say it loud that the killings in Kaduna, Katsina and Zamfara are not religious as being advanced by some groups.

“The primary responsibility of any government whether autocratic, dictatorship or democracy, is the protection of lives and property.

“This is a government that was democratically elected after promising us security from all manner of threats or attacks, particularly Boko Haram.”

Abubakar argued that in Nigeria, particularly the Northern region, not a single place is safe.

He added, “Anybody can become a victim now. If this is so, it is our responsibility to rise up and call the attention of the government to this and even make demands. This is the least that we can expect; that government should protect us. It is our right.

“We didn’t beg them to come and govern us. We did them a favour by voting them into office; we gave them our mandate and it is now time for them to protect us. So, if they are not protecting us, we are ready to challenge them to do what they promised to do for us.”

“That is why we called for the immediate sacking of the service chiefs – because you can see that the government responded to our statement by sending the NSA to Katsina and Sokoto.”

The Guardian