Those found guilty in Kaduna killing, must face the wrath of the law - Sharia Council

Some Muslim scholars, under the aegis of Supreme Council of Sharia in Nigeria (SCSN), has said the only way for peace to reign in Southern Kaduna is for government to execute former military governor of old Rivers State, Major General Zamani Lekwot, retd, and other leaders sentenced to death over the Zango-Kataf riot in 1992.

This was disclosed by the SCSN’s Secretary, AbdulRahman Hassan, at a press conference in Kaduna.

According to Hassan, the government’s failure to execute Lekwot and others sentenced to death over the riot was responsible for the persistent attacks in Southern Kaduna.

Lekwot, Major James Kude (retd), and others were sentenced to death for their involvement in the Zango-Kataf riot that claimed several lives in 1992 under the regime of General Ibrahim Babangida (retd.).

The Sharia Council called for the revisit of the death sentence passed on those convicted for the riot in Zango-Kataf.

Hassan said those convicted including Lekwot, Kude, and others, should be executed to allow peace reign in Southern Kaduna once and for all.

His words, “We want those pardoned in 1992 during Zango-Kataf crisis, after being condemned to death, to be executed now because that is the only way peace will return to the area.

“Till now, Zonkwa is still a ghost town. Surprisingly, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), the Southern Kaduna People’s Union, and their allies have never cried foul in the massacre of innocent law-abiding citizens on the account of their faith.

“Many more ethnoreligious crises continue to occur in Kasuwan Magani, Kajuru, Zangon Kataf, and some other places.

“After every crisis, a commission of enquiry will be formed, a report will be submitted to the government of the day, yet to no avail.

“For instance, the late Justice Pius Okadigbo tribunal on the Zangon Kataf crisis, found retired General Zamani Lekwot and others guilty of the massacre that took place there and they were sentenced to death, but they were later pardoned.

“That was what opened the floodgate of violence, mayhems, upheavals and total breakdown of law and order in that axis, which is ravaging the area till today because some people felt they are above the law.

“The council has been saying, time without number that all those found guilty in these crimes against humanity, must face the wrath of the law.”

Meanwhile, in response to the call for his execution, Lekwot has said he was not afraid of death.

The former military governor disclosed this while speaking with journalists shortly after an inter-denominational service and indoor protest organized by the state chapter of CAN.

According to him, only God could determine his life and not those craving for violence under the current democratic dispensation.

Lekwot said what Nigeria needed at this moment is genuine tolerance, regardless of ethnic or religious affinities and not hatred.