Why I imposed curfew on Kaduna at Christmas – El-Rufai

THE people of Kafanchan, Kaduna State will observe Christmas under a 12-hour curfew, which Governor Nasir el-Rufai says is necessary to stabilise the security situation in the area.

The governor imposed the curfew following clashes involving Fulani herdsmen and natives, which have led to several deaths in southern parts of the state.

He was at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Thursday to update President Muhammadu Buhari on the measures being taken to restore normality to the area after which he told correspondents that people can still enjoy Christmas in the affected areas but for 12 hours.

El-Rufai justified the curfew saying that it was not the making of his government.

Asked about his mission at the Presidential Villa, he said: “‎I came to brief the President about the situation in Southern Kaduna, what happened in the last few days and outlined to him the measures we have been taking as state government with the support of the Nigerian Army, the Nigerian Police and the Department of State Security.

“The President has given us unqualified support to stabilise the state and bring all those responsible for the violation our laws to justice.

“So, we have the full support of the President to move on and we are quite confident that things will return to normal very soon.”

On the criticism of his administration for imposing a curfew at a time of an important celebration, he stated: “Well, we have curfew even on Christmas Day, but it is for 12 hours. People will be able to get out in the morning at 6am and be back at 6pm. It is because of the security situation.

“I don’t think the state government should be held blamed. Those responsible for the violence that broke out in those parts of the state should be held responsible for that.

“We have not imposed curfew in other parts of the state. We had to impose curfew here because of the situation that was caused by irresponsible behaviour by certain people.”