A PRESS STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT OF ADARA DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION, MR AWEMI DIO MAISAMARI ON THE POSITION OF ADARA COMMUNITY ON THE CRISIS IMPOSED ON THE ADARA NATION DATED 10TH JULY, 2019
Gentle men of the press
Kaduna State Governor, El-Rufai
On 31st May, 2019 the Adara Development Association was greatly relieved when seven of the nine Adara elders that had been in unjust detention since mid February 2019 were released unconditionally. Another one was released subject to further investigation and the other is still in detention on allegations of illegal possession of a dane gun. An additional source of relief was the unconditional release of another nineteen innocent Adara youth and children on 3rd July, 2019 who had also been in unjust detention since the February 2018 Kasuwan Magani market massacre of Adara people. These developments corroborate our view that innocent Adara people have been routinely imprisoned purely due to government highhandedness, administrative and political injustice. The release of these people are welcome developments which have partially calmed the community. This has enabled the Association to re-evaluate the position of Adara nation on the crisis that has been imposed on her. The re-evaluation will be a continuous exercise until normalcy is permanently returned to our ancestral home and the grievances of the community addressed to the satisfaction of the people. In the meantime, the Association wishes to declare the interim position of the community as follows:
1. The Adara nation still lives in fresh, vivid and painful memories of the tragic, hitherto unthinkable and forever unjustifiable chain of calamities that have befallen her innocent, peaceful and submissive citizens in the past months. We out rightly condemn the numerous acts of administrative injustice, imported criminality, multiple, organized and barbaric attacks and abductions of helpless community members by Fulani terrorists and their collaborators. These evils resulted in the destruction of several Adara villages, the killing and maiming of hundreds of people and further impoverishment of the already marginalized and poor Adara community. We consider it most shocking that our helpless community could be subjected to these horrors when it was still reeling in the agony of the abduction and assassination of His Royal Highness Agom Adara, the scraping of Adara Chiefdom and the malicious imprisonment of her remaining community leaders. These heinous deeds mark the height of man’s inhumanity to his fellow man. The community is therefore still in a state of alarm and apprehension regarding further eventualities.
2. During this unsettling period, the community took, and is still taking solace and consolation in the understanding, assurance, sympathy, support and solidarity of people of goodwill locally and internationally. We consider it impossible to name the numerous individuals, groups and organizations that identified with and made a difference (and are still doing so) in the life of our community during these dark and eventful days. The community will rather reach out as much as possible to appreciate their kindness on a one on one basis. But should our efforts fall short of their expectations, they should be assured of our unquantifiable appreciation and humble prayers for the heavenly blessings due to them for such noble services rendered for the betterment of humanity.
3. Meanwhile, we wish to most responsibly observe that the predicament of the Adara nation has not changed. The development challenges and other grievances that Adara nation have been enduring in silence for long are still there. New worries are being added by the day. The list of unanswered questions tormenting our people has also been increasing. And yet our misery is not even officially recognized as such by the political establishment of the day. That is also why the evasive attitudes of government to requests for dialogue or engagement with the community have also remained. We fear that this state of affairs is precarious. We have therefore gone ahead to formally remind His Excellency the Governor of Kaduna State of our previous requests for audience with the hope that this time around, it will be granted. This is to demonstrate the eagerness of our people for amicable and permanent solutions to our community problems.
4. Furthermore, pending the commencement and progress of our community’s anticipated bilateral engagement with government, we wish to categorically state that the issues burning in the hearts of our people and the positions of the Adara nation on them are as follows:
i) Adara community is yet to come to terms with the contrived abduction and eventual assassination of HRH Agom Adara in very suspicious and humiliating circumstances. More so, as that action seems to have cleared the way for the release of a five month old secret government order scraping Adara Chiefdom, partitioning the community and subordination the majority Christian population to the new Kajuru Emirate and Kachia Chiefdom as demanded by a Hausa/Fulani Muslim minority in Adara land. This has relegated Adara people from the second largest ethnic nationality with a 1st Class Chiefdom in Kaduna State to one with no recognition and no Chiefdom at all. For generations to come, our people will rightly, see these as acts of gross injustice and provocation. The community wishes to reaffirm its total and unambiguous opposition to this travesty and its commitment to continue to seek redress by legal and political means. We shall continue to appeal to government to open avenues for dialogue, confidence building with the community and peaceful resolution of the matter.
ii) Many rural communities in Adara land are still living in sorrow, fear and degrading conditions due to various acts of organized terrorism, destabilization and displacement of Adara natives. Fulani terrorists and their collaborators have been in the center of these crimes. Government remedial actions have not only been grossly inadequate but partial thereby necessitating self reliance for community survival. Furthermore, government and its agencies have always been almost indifferent to Adara community and victims while appearing to be more sympathetic to our attackers and their collaborators. We are appealing to the Federal and State Governments and to all people of goodwill for help in addressing these anomalies to ensure genuine and lasting peace.
iii) Adara nation, and indeed other ethnic minorities in Kaduna State want to live in a state where the basic tenets of democratic governance prevail. We crave for citizen consultation and participation in governance, the rule of law, freedom of speech, freedom from religious and political discrimination; equal opportunities, equal rights, justice and fairness in the public space. Adara nation is greatly concerned that the absence of these basic tenets is denying the community and society in general the much desired social harmony, peace and progress. The community is urging government to ensure that these concerns are not only addressed, but are seen by all to be addressed. Nobody, no matter how clever, can fool all the people all of the time.
iv) We regret to observe that the Kaduna State Government has continued to show lack of human feelings for the lives of Adara people. This happened when it released the scrapping of Adara Chiefdom immediately after the assassination of HRH Agom Adara. Now government is hurriedly trying to rebuild Kasuwan Magani market after the massacre of more than one hundred Adara natives in the market square. It is even unkind that the Governor and the District Head of Kufana chose the site of the massacre to perform their chieftaincy title conferment comedy. We consider it a bizarre comedy because the District Head unilaterally did it without the consent of the people of Kufana District and to the greatest embarrassment of the whole of Adara community. Adara nation condemns this absurdity in general and the District Head in particular. The District Head has, by this action shown that he lacks sympathy for his persecuted people, common sense, decency and even legitimacy to serve as an Adara leader. Therefore, the title given to the Governor is an honour given by the person of Mr. Titus Dauda, and not by the Adara community of Kufana District, talk less of our much revered and cherished Adara Chiefdom.
Adara nation has since challenged the unwarranted and unjustifiable scrapping of Adara Chiefdom in a court of competent jurisdiction and the case is ongoing. We therefore stand on the solid legal foundation that the disguised attempt by the new “Emir” of Kajuru to assert dominion over Kasuwan Magani town in Kufana District of Adara Chiefdom with the connivance of government is illegal and provocative. All of the above incendiary actions by supposedly civil authorities in a crisis area and in a crisis situation like Kasuwan Magani are most inappropriate and condemnable. Nobody needs to look further for the remote causes of the recurring crises in Adara Chiefdom.
v) Finally, Adara community is the host of the Kasuwan Magani market. Adara people are also the chief patronizers of the market and the producers of almost all the agricultural products for which the market is reputed for. This should make Adara people major stakeholders in the affairs of the market. But, as usual, government actions, utterances and body language clearly show that the opinions and concerns of Adara community are being completely disregarded. This is how almost all other matters affecting Adara people are determined exclusively based on the wishes, by and for the interests of the Muslim, Hausa/Fulani minority resident within Adara community. And this is always done with the tacit and sometimes open collaboration of government. Numerous instances of such are the clearest evidence that government seems to be pursuing a purely religious as well as ethnic agenda. We want the whole world to know that this immoral and obnoxious practice is at the root of all government actions and inactions that are continuously igniting the unending crises in Kaduna State in particular and Nigeria in general. Government at all levels must renounce this recurring and destabilizing error.
In conclusion, we once gain appeal to the Federal and Kaduna State Governments to show sincerity of purpose and impartiality in addressing the concerns of Adara community in particular and Nigerian citizens in general. We also call on all other individuals and organizations of reputable standing to make their influence to bear on government to save Nigerians from obvious leadership failures. Adara people remain ever determined to oppose and resist all forms of social injustice to the best of their abilities in solidarity with other truly noble men among mankind.
Thank you.
