El-Rufai arrested church members after killing a monarch in Southern Kaduna – Ex-SGF Babachir Lawal

The ex-Secretary to the Government of rhe Federation, Babachir Lawal has alleged that rhe detained former Governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir El-Rufai used the machinery of government to arrest residents who protested the killing of a traditional ruler.

He said a frist class traditional ruler from Kofana, a community near Kaduna,
had after attended a security meeting at the Government House, Kaduna, was going back home and got attacked.

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In an interview on SYMFONI TV, Babachir said the attack on Monarch’s convoy by the suspected bandits left his driver and security aide dead before he was abducted into the forest, where he was later killed.

Rather than commiserating the affected community, El-Rufai was brutal and got their leaders arrested for staging a protest demanding for the killing of their monarch.

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Lawal revealed that those who were arrested are members of his church who spent over five years behind the bar without trial, adding that his attempts to secure their freedom through legal channels failed because no judge granted them bail.

He said the detainees spent between four and five years in custody before regaining their freedom, adding that many emerged traumatized, in poor health, and later passed away.

Lawal argued that El-Rufai had a pattern of using political authority against perceived opponents. Even so, he maintained that any alleged wrongdoing by the former governor should not justify similar treatment against him by any administration today.

Recalling the incident, Lawal said, “When the community started protesting, he ordered the leaders of the community; he arrested all of them. Some of them were my church members, locked them up without trial.”

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