Governor Nasir El-Rufai has commended His Highness, the Agwatyap, Chief Dominic Gambo Yahaya, for bringing together the diverse communities in his chiefdom to begin the rebuilding of trust and restoring peace.
The governor gave the commendation when a delegation of Atyap Chiefdom visited him at Sir Kashim Ibrahim House, to formally update him on the peace summit which was held penultimate Saturday, where Atyap, Hausa and Fulani communities resolved to live in peace.
Governor El-Rufai also called on ‘’every person of goodwill to support the Atyap Chiefdom’s strong efforts to bring its communities together and stop the bloodshed and destruction of property.
‘’Everyone should reject the temptation to take laws into their hands and instead submit all grievances to the lawful authorities,’’ he further advised.
According to him, government ‘’commends the resolve by the communities to respect the right of any citizen to live in peace within the Atyap Chiefdom and applauds the resolution to settle disputes through lawful processes and institutions.’’
El-Rufai noted that what the communities and leadership of Atyap Chiefdom have started is the type of grassroots ownership of the responsibility for peace and harmony that the government has advocated.
According to Governor El-Rufai, this kind of initiative is more beyond the deployment of police and military forces.
The governor appealed to all the communities to abide by the resolutions of the summit with vigilance and commitment, and work towards making it a sustainable accord.
‘’The work of peace is often hard, but it is an obligation to work always for preserving human life, liberty and livelihoods,’’ El-Rufai explained.
The governor reiterated that ‘’this strong community rapprochement will help to complement security efforts to restore law and order and advance towards sustainable peace.’’
El-Rufai said that his administration ‘’ has been clear and insistent since 2015 that the ultimate guarantee of peace is the willingness of communities to live in peace and harmony, and their resolve to settle all differences by strictly lawful means.’’
He said government welcomes ‘’the unequivocal repudiation of the violence and killings that have occurred in the Atyap Chiefdom, and the call on all residents of the area to report to the security agencies, the criminals that have perpetrated the lawless acts in the area.’’
El-Rufai promised that all those ‘’who seek to replace violent strife with harmony can be assured of the unstinting support of the state government for the peace and concord in all our communities.’’
The governor commended ‘’the involvement of youths from the various communities in the peace summit and their agreement not to mount roadblocks anywhere in the chiefdom.’’
According to him, government will maintain the enhanced security deployments in the area as this peace process advances, adding that ‘’Kaduna State Peace Commission will also strongly support this effort at building peace at the grassroots. ‘’
The governor promised to accede to the Agwatyap’s demand to construct the road linking Ungwan Wakili to Kwaku and Gora,as well as build the road linking Zango, Tangje and Ungwan Jaba, including Zango Urban roads. He also promised to construct a bridge linking Gidan Zaki and Manyi Aghui .
He argued that although the projects fall within the purview of Zangon Kataf local government, the state government will nonetheless execute them, owing to the Agwatyap’s leadership role in initiating peace in his chiefdom.
Speaking earlier, the Agwatyap thanked Governor El-Rufai for giving support for the successful hosting of the summit.
His Highness revealed that the idea of the summit was mooted a long time ago, adding that he approached the governor about the proposal four weeks ago for consultation.
According to the Royal Father, the governor not only welcomed the idea but suggested some names of stakeholders that the Agwatyap should involve in the summit. Chief Yahaya said that he met with the people who also bought the idea of the summit.
He said that the resolutions of the summit has been captured in a 14-point agreement, which the representatives of the Atyap, Hausa and Fulani communities signed.
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