Kaduna Police Commissioner Says Attacked Jere Chief Not Killed

The Kaduna State Police Commissioner,
Olufemi Adenaike, has stated that Sa’ad
Danlami Usman, a traditional Jere
chieftain who was physically attacked
yesterday had not died, contrary to
rumors. The assault on Mr. Usman arose
from a simmering dispute over land
ownership in his domain, SaharaReporters
learnt.
In a telephone interview with
SaharaReporters, the Police Commissioner
confirmed the attack on the second class
traditional ruler, but denied that he was
killed. Instead, he insisted that Mr. Usman
was being treated in a hospital, adding
that security agencies were patrolling Jere
and surrounding communities.
The commissioner stated that the police
had commenced an investigation into the
fracas that led to the assault on Mr.
Usman, adding that his command would
do its best to ensure that peace returns in
the communities. Mr. Adenaike told
SaharaReporters that a thorough
investigation was necessary to uncover
what actually transpired.
All efforts to reach the traditional ruler’s
secretary on his telephone were
unsuccessful. However, a young man in
the community named Shere Ibrahim told
our correspondent that his people were
fighting for survival and preservation of
their ancestral land from the invasion of
Fulani expansionists. “What is happening
here is the modern enslavement of Gbagyi
people and [seizure of] their ancestral
land by the Fulani Chief of Jere, who is a
Pharaoh and powerful but we have only
God and we will fight this with the last
drop of our blood,” said Mr. Ibrahim. He
added, “”This is a Chiefdom, but they are
now claiming [to be an] Emirate. We
Gbagyi cannot have a Fulani Emirate
enslave us in our own land.”
He added that the Jere traditional ruler
had used the expansion of roads from
Kaduna to Abuja as a ruse to seize his
people’s ancestral land in a campaign of
occupation. He alleged that his people’s
numerous appeals to security agencies
and governments had not yielded any
intervention.
He attributed the indifference of security
agencies to the fact that the traditional
chief had political contacts in high places.
The ruler’s wife is Senator Nenadi Esther
Usman, a former Minister of Finance, his
nephew, Sani Sidi, serves as Director
General of the Nigerian Emergency
Management Agency and is a close ally of
Vice President Namadi Sambo as well as
Governor Mukhtar Yero of Kaduna State,
and his son is a commissioner of special
duties. “Who will hear our cry? This is the
real issue. They cannot collect our
ancestral land.”