It began with a government gazette showing that Adara Chiefdom was scrapped and replaced with Kajuru Emirate and Kachia Chiefdom. The Adaras are Christians in Kaduna State. This meant that Adara people were to fall under either Islamic emirate based on location. The Adara people protested this development. It seemed however, as if the government had already started acting in line with the gazette as the traditional council of the Adara and other chiefs noticed a change in how information was passed along. The village heads and other Hakimis suddenly seemed to be taking orders from elsewhere and not the Agom Adara, the monarch.
Considering it a modern day reenactment of how the Hausa states were taken over by the Fulani, the Late Agom Adara did not agree with the gazette and made it known where he stands. A few months later, he was invited by the State Governor to what was supposed to be a peace meeting but was kidnapped with his wife on his return journey. The wife was later released but he was subsequently murdered. When the Kaduna State Governor went to pay his condolence visit to the Chiefdom, the Waziri who stands in for the Late Agom until a new one is installed made it known to the Governor that they had seen the gazette and do not agree to the new arrangement as that will mean Adara as a whole will be no more, including their tradition, their Christianity and way of life.
After a while with no word from the State Government, the Waziri wrote a letter seeking for audience with the Governor so that issues will be discussed and an amicable settlement will be reached. The response was Silence.
He wrote a follow up letter to the Governor still asking for audience so the issue will be sorted. He took a copy of that letter to Emir of Zazzau and copied some other people. Still silence. In the meantime, the government were already dealing with the Adara Chiefdom as if the gazette had been implemented. They later got to hear that a Fulani man was to be Chief of Kachia. (For those who don’t get the implication, this means the Agom Adara is to be replaced with a Fulani man).
When all diplomatic efforts failed, the Adara people, spear headed by the Waziri and the group of elders through a team of lawyers filed a case in the High Court of Justice Holden at Kaduna with SUIT NO. KDH/KAD/72/2019 where “The 1st Defendant is the Governor and Chief Executive of Kaduna State pursuant to Section 195 (1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended.
A week to the first hearing of that case, the elders were rounded up and locked in prison, allegedly framed for the killing of Fulanis in Kajuru. The five village heads among the elders were told to come for a peace dialogue with Fulani elders in the area; they thought it was a step towards peace so they went and were rounded up after they were made to write a statement while the Fulani Ardo was asked to go home.” the source added. The State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, is Fulani.
The nine Adara elders of Kajuru in Kaduna State were kept in detention for more than 100 days with no known charge preferred against them save for “orders from above”. The elders included Engineer Bawa Magaji (Wazirin Adara), Sani Magaji (Commissioner of Police (retired)/Baradan Adara), Awemi Dio Maisamari ( Adara Development Association President), Joseph Abdallah (Adara Development Association National Treasurer), Tanko Maisamari (Village Head Maro), Hosea Danladi (Village head Ungwan Gamo), Joseph Ayuba (Village Head Kutura) , Tank Wada (Village Head Aguba), Ulu Maitumbi (Ungwan Barde Elder).
On Febuary 15, 2019, Nasir El-Rufai, governor of Kaduna state on twitter announced that 66 people were killed in Fulani enclaves in Kajuru Local Government Area of the state.
Shortly after the statement which SaharaReporters said it confirmed was false, there followed a wave of attacks on unarmed civilians mostly of Adara extraction by armed herdsmen; the most recent which was the killing of a foreign tourist and three others at Kajuru Castle on April 20, 2019 by armed herdsmen in Kajuru Local Government Area. The attacks have left several indigenous Adara people displaced without mention or attention by the state government.
The elders were eventually released after more than 100 days in unlawful detention but the contentious issue, especially the ploy to dominate the Christian area under the Fulanis remains alive and unchanged.
With additional reports from Alheri Bawa Magaji and Sahara Reporters
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