The Southern Kaduna Peoples Union (SOKAPU) has condemned the destruction of a foundation laying structure of the proposed Nigerian Army Battalion in Southern Kaduna.

A statement issued on Saturday in Kaduna, signed by SOKAPU National Public Relations Officer, Yakubu Kuzamani, said the attention of the union had been drawn to the statement by the Kaduna State Government on the destruction of the foundation structure.

“An organisation that has been vigorously pursuing an increased presence of the military in an area deliberately neglected and abandoned for a long time, we totally frown at such acts of recklessness,” Kuzamani said.

He said that SOKAPU will not support any acts that could break the law and will continue to call on all Southern Kaduna people, irrespective of ethnic, religious or political affiliations, to abide by the laws of the lands and never to break the laws.

Said Kuzamani: “SOKAPU stands on its quest for justice and fairness, anchored on the peaceful approach to all solution bedeviling our region and would not stand aloof and watch such acts being truncated by anyone.

“With the one-sided speed that some in Southern Kaduna are being arrested and paraded as the ‘masterminds’ of the genocidal killings in Southern Kaduna, we urge the security agencies to ensure they get the right suspect and not some innocent people picked at random and later paraded without due investigation.

“We still reiterate our stand as a peaceful organisation, speaking for the peace-loving people of Southern Kaduna, irrespective of tribe or religion and would not stand and allow acts that could embolden our aggressors and their supporters to wrongly and mischievously continue to allude to some personality in Southern Kaduna as ‘crisis entrepreneurs,’ to stand.”

The Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has expressed shock over the destruction, describing it as unfortunate, condemnable and a setback to the government’s communal stabilisation and peace building efforts.

The Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, recently laid the foundation stone for the Forward Operation Base of 2 Battalion of the Nigerian Army in Zango Kataf Local Government Area of Kaduna State.