The Bajju Muslim Women Organisation (BMWO) in Southern Kaduna has called for mutual respect and co-existence between the different faiths and ethnic groups in Southern Kaduna, saying it was the only way for peace to be entrenched.
The leader of BMWO, HajiyaRahmatu Musa, said a cordial relationship between politicians, religious, community leaders and the people without discrimination will end ethnoreligious conflicts that have bedevilled communities in Southern Kaduna.
Speaking on the lingering crises in the area, HajiyaRamatu who spoke in an exclusive interview with Arewa Trust Weekly in Kafanchan said: “I am Bajju by tribe and Muslim by faith; how could you expect me to encourage the killing of my ethnic group because of reconcilable issues, or support the killing of my brothers in faith? I have brothers and sisters that are not Muslims, and we used to visit each other before everything started to change. This is not the way our forefathers lived.”
The Muslim leader who is also the former Vice Chairman of the Federation of Muslim Women Association of Nigeria (FOMWAN), Jema’a LGA, said meaningful development can only take place when traditional rulers ensure peaceful coexistence among diverse ethnic and religious groups within their domain.
She blamed some of the elites for being responsible for the division, adding that, “To me, religion has played a vital role in bringing and binding us together as it makes us become one through intermarriages among Hausa, Atyap, Fulani, Bajju, Fantsuam, Jaba and many other tribes, so why are we killing ourselves.”
