He Did Terrible Things: Southern Kaduna Couldn’t Live In North Under El-Rufai — Defence Minister Musa Alleges

Minister of Defence, Gen. Christopher Musa (rtd), has accused former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai of taking actions that deepened divisions in the state during his tenure.

Musa made the allegations on Thursday during an interview on Channels Television, claiming that El-Rufai’s administration created a situation where residents from southern Kaduna could not freely live in the northern part of the state and vice versa.

“El-Rufai did a lot of terrible things in Kaduna State. He divided the state into two. In that, if you are from the south, you cannot go to the north to live. Those ones from the north were moving to the south,” Musa said.

He credited Governor Uba Sani with making efforts to rebuild unity and restore freedom of movement.

“You can’t imagine that in the country. The country that is supposed to be one. But Governor Uba Sani, within one year, has been able to dissolve all that. You see now, everybody is free. Everybody has a say. It’s not 100 percent, but you can see that he’s making deliberate effort in uniting the state,” he said.

The defence minister also alleged that residents of southern Kaduna remained aggrieved over El-Rufai’s handling of security challenges and killings during his administration.

“If you look at his videos, his speeches, he was very proud of what he did. He told us he paid bandits. He told us he did this; he did that. He didn’t hide it. He was that arrogant to come out and tell people that this was what he did,” he alleged.

“If you look at the number of killings that were done there (southern Kaduna) and what is going on now, you can’t compare at all,” Musa added.

He also accused El-Rufai of using his office to demolish properties of residents over personal disagreements.

“I can tell you people what he has done to people living in Kaduna State from his own area. He had just personal issues with friends. The next thing, he sends a bulldozer to bulldoze your house down. He’s done it. It’s there on the TV. People just go to YouTube and check what he has done,” he said.

Musa said his criticism was not motivated by being from Kaduna State, but by his identity as a Nigerian, and called for leaders committed to national unity rather than exploiting religious and ethnic differences.