MBF Back Defence Minister, Say Don’t Apologise To El-Rufai — Demand ICC Probe Over Southern Kaduna Killings
Christian communities in Northern Nigeria widely known as the Middle Belt Forum (MBF) have urged the Minister of Defence, Gen. Christopher Musa (retd.), not to apologise to former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, over his recent comments on Channels Television.
Instead, the Forum called for an independent investigation into alleged killings and payments to bandits during El-Rufai’s tenure, demanding that if found culpable, the former governor should be prosecuted for alleged crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The National Spokesman of the MBF, Luka Binniyat, made the demand on Tuesday at a press conference in Kaduna, where the forum declared solidarity with Musa.
PUNCH rhe controversy followed Musa’s appearance on Channels TV’s Politics Today on September 3, 2026, where he said: “We can never be happy with somebody who has deliberately planned for the killing of our people,” alleging that El-Rufai admitted to paying bandits.
El-Rufai, through his lawyers, had rejected the allegations and demanded a public apology and N10bn compensation.
Reacting, Binniyat said the defence minister had no reason to apologise, arguing that his comments reflected the experiences of communities affected by violence during El-Rufai’s administration.
“The Middle Belt Forum is not a mouthpiece for Gen. Musa. We are speaking as witnesses to what happened in Kaduna State during that period, since Southern Kaduna is part of the Middle Belt,” he said.
The MBF, representing Christian communities across the Middle Belt, rejected claims that the violence was merely inherited, alleging that attacks on rural communities became more widespread under El-Rufai, resulting in killings, destruction of villages and mass displacement.
Binniyat accused the former administration of arresting community leaders and traditional rulers instead of perpetrators. He cited the 2016 arrest of the District Head of Goska, Moses Barde, after an attack on the community in Jema’a LGA; the arrest and dethronement of the B’Gwam Kurama, Dr. Ishaku Sabo Damina; and the 2021 arrest of 15 Atyap leaders over allegations of killing 706 cows.
He also revisited the 2019 Kajuru crisis, accusing El-Rufai of inflating casualty figures from 66 Fulani to 130 and then 133, while several Adara leaders including the President of the Adara Development Association, Awemi Dio Maisamari, were arrested. Maisamari and eight others later secured N900m damages after the Federal High Court ruled their detention unlawful.
“It is the opinion of the MBF that El-Rufai should be charged with crimes against humanity and be handed over to the International Criminal Court for proper prosecution,” Binniyat said.
The Forum demanded review of unresolved killings, including the kidnapping and murder of the Agwom Adara, Dr. Raphael Maiwada Galadima in October 2018, and denial by retired Gen. Martin Agwai that his committee recommended El-Rufai pay killers of Southern Kaduna people.
The MBF further accused the former administration of mishandling the 2015 Shiite crisis, imposing prolonged curfews in Southern Kaduna, and failing to protect communities, while also criticising mass dismissal of workers and demolition of homes.
