The Presidency has come out to say that evil combination of politically-motivated banditry, revenge killings, and mutual violence by criminal gangs have contributed to the unending killings in Southern Kaduna.

Malam Garba Shehu, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity revealed this via a recent statement in Abuja.

According to him, the security problems facing Southern Kaduna is more serious than several critics are prepared to acknowledge and understand.

He added that revenge and counter-revenge only create a circle of violence and it will continue to make everyone unsafe.

His words, “From available records, Southern Kaduna enjoys comprehensive security deployments, including the Army, Special Forces of both the Army and the Air Force, surveillance aircraft by the Air Force and mobile police units that are on the ground on a 24-hour basis to forestall criminality and keep the peace.

“But unlike other parts of the country, the problem of Southern Kaduna is more complicated than many critics are ready to acknowledge and understand.

“From available security records, the problem in Southern Kaduna is an evil combination of politically-motivated banditry, revenge killings and mutual violence by criminal gangs acting on ethnic and religious grounds.

“It is a situation in which one criminal group will kill a member of another criminal group out of ethnic and religious motivations which in turn leads to the eruption of revenge and counter-revenge, thereby making the job of the security personnel deployed to protect lives more difficult.

“We note that revenge and counter-revenge only creates a circle of violence, thereby making everyone else unsafe, especially innocent people.

“The presidency advises the people against taking the law into their own hands which makes the job of security personnel more difficult.”