Shortage of food, drugs and other relief materials has hit Southern Kaduna communities following persistent attacks by gunmen suspected to be Fulani militiamen.
Four local government areas of Southern Kaduna – Zango-Kataf, Kaura, Kauru and Jemaa – have been under persistent attacks, forcing the state government to impose a curfew on them.
Following a week-long attack on communities in the LGAs and the inability of the villagers, who are subsistence farmers, to go to the farm, hunger has crept into the communities.
Sources, who spoke with Punch, said some of the Internally Displaced Person camps, especially at Zonkwa, were being flooded by displaced villagers, including aged women and children.
It was learnt that the development has led to a shortage of food, drugs and relief materials in the camps, as well as in the communities.
A farmer, Jatau Mutum, told Punch that since Saturday, the IDP camp at Zonkwa had witnessed an increased number of displaced persons from Zikpat and other communities under attack.
Mutum, however, added that there was no commensurate food and medical supplies to take care of those at the camp.
"Before now, the ECWA church camp was sustaining no fewer than 1,500 IDPs, but we have over 3,000 displaced persons following the recent attacks on some communities," he said.
The spokesman for the Southern Kaduna Peoples Union, Luis Binniyat, stated that daily the union was besieged by calls from families who were starving because "there is no market and farming activities have come to a stop."
"Both the federal and state governments are not ready to look into the plight of the displaced persons in Southern Kaduna," he added.
Meanwhile, the Muslim community in Southern Kaduna, under the aegis of the Muslim Youth Foundation of Southern Kaduna, has alleged isolated killing of its members in the area.
The group added that Muslims were being targeted for killing following attacks on Zikpak in the Jemaa LGA where no fewer than nine persons were killed on Friday.
The chairman of the group, Mohammed Bello, in a statement, said, "Guerrilla attack on Muslims, who are either in transit or in the process of carrying out their legitimate business, has been going on in Southern Kaduna for quite some time now."
Following the recent attacks, Governor Nasir El-Rufai, on Friday, extended the 24-hour curfew to Jema'a and Kaura LGAs.
In a related development, a religious organisation, Interfaith Dialogue Forum for Peace, on Monday expressed the fear that the killings in Southern Kaduna could unleash hunger on the people of the region and the state.
The organisation recommended that more security posts should be put in place in Southern Kaduna to check the spate of killings, adding that the security post personnel should work with the communities.
A statement by the co-chairmen of IDFP, Bishop Sunday Onuoha and Alhaji Kunle Sanni, called on Kaduna State Government to put in more efforts towards protecting the lives and property of citizens to ensure sustainable peace in all parts of the state.
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