The former chairman of the Nigerian Human Rights Commission (NHRC) professor Chidi Odinkalu has alleged that the report of killings of 66 persons, among them 22 children and 6 women in Kajuru local government of Kanduna State is fake.
The Kaduna State Government had reported on Friday the killing of 66 persons in Kajuru Local Government Area of the state.
A government statement signed by Samuel Aruwan, the spokesperson of Governor Nasir El-Rufai, on Friday said that security agencies have been deployed to the area, while arrests have been made.
Mr Aruwan did not state if the violence is election-related. He, however, said investigations have commenced.
“Security agencies today reported the recovery of 66 bodies that were killed in attacks by criminal elements on various dispersed hamlets in the Maro Gida and Iri axis of Kajuru LGA. The settlements affected include Ruga Bahago, Ruga Daku, Ruga Ori, Ruga Haruna, Ruga Yukka Abubakar, Ruga Duni Kadiri, Ruga Shewuka and Ruga Shuaibu Yau”, Aruwan had stated.
Odinkalu said that he had spoken with every community leader in Kajuru and all of them said there was no such killings in their area.
He challenged anyone who doubts his claim to show evidence, through verifiable means, among them, video clips, of those killed and where they were buried.
He alleged that the reported killing was contrived to create a sense of insecurity in the state so as to force a postponement of election in that state.
