Kaduna state Governor Mallam Nasir El Rufai says his administration will do everything possible to see that lasting peace returns to southern Kaduna, which has been in the news over the past few months due to ethnic crisis.

Citing the reconciliation process initiated by the Atyap Chiefdom in Zangon Kataf Local Government Area among the various ethnic groups, the governor said what the communities and leadership of Atyap Chiefdom have started was the type of grassroots ownership of the responsibility for peace and harmony in communities that the government has advocated as a critical factor beyond the deployment of police and military forces.

 “We are particularly grateful to His Highness, the Agwatyap for his leadership in bringing together the diverse communities in his chiefdom to begin the process of rebuilding trust and restoring peace. We thank the community leaders and civic-minded individuals that have helped kick-start this dialogue process.

“Also noteworthy is the involvement of youths from the various communities in the peace summit and their agreement not to mount roadblocks anywhere in the chiefdom,” he added.

He assured that the state government would maintain the enhanced security deployments in the area as the peace process advances, pointing out that the Kaduna State Peace Commission will also strongly support this effort at building peace at the grassroots.

The governor appealed to all the communities to abide by the resolutions with vigilance and commitment, and work towards making it a sustainable accord. “The work of peace is often hard, but it is a human obligation to work always to preserve human life, liberty and livelihoods, he stressed.