Kaduna Police Commissioner Says Attacked Jere Chief Not Killed

Dr. Sa’ad Danlami Usman-the traditional chief of Jere

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.

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 confirmed 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.”