It’s been three years since the paramount ruler of the Adara tribe, Dr. Raphael Maiwada Galadima popularly known as Agom Adara was gruesomely murdered by some gang of terrorists whom security agencies later revealed to be Fulanis.
The circumstances under which the revered Chief was abducted and later murdered after ransom was paid remain a mystery yet to be unraveled with the court of public opinion believing that he was not just randomly abducted and murdered but a well calculated action that would later be revealed following events that took place after his exodus from the throne.
Galadima, described by many as a man of peace and justice was on his way back from Kaduna on Friday 19 October 2018 when the daredevil terrorists attacked his convoy, killing four aides before taking him, his wife and driver into the forest, a journey that would eventually led to his exit from planet earth. His wife was later released by the terrorists but the Chief would never be seen again even after ransom was negotiated and paid in full.
In the Morning of 26 October 2018, after spending a week in captivity, the terrorists shot Chief Galadima at close range and dumped his body along the dreaded Abuja-Kaduna highway. The entire Adara tribe all over Nigeria and the people of Southern Kaduna were thrown into deep mourning.
Barely two weeks after his murder, the Kaduna state command of the Department of State Security (DSS) announced the arrest of the suspected killers of the Royal father, a development that was welcomed by many with joy and optimism that justice was on its way. Mohammed Ningi, the Director of the DSS in Kaduna while announcing the arrest said that the six suspects were arrested following intense security surveillance on them.
As expected, the six were charged to court by the police but their trial has been a top secret, the public know nothing about all thanks to the lackadaisical attitude of the prosecution team from the Kaduna state department of justice. The prosecution which ought to be up and doing to ensure that justice is served on time for the public interest is either not interested in the case or just buying time to get the public to forget about the gruesome murder of the Royal father.
To make matters worse and more complicated, the Chiefdom the late Monarch left behind was ‘balkanized’ by the Kaduna state government with no replacement for the murdered monarch three years after his murder.
The Kaduna state government in June 2018 announced the establishment of an Emirate over Kajuru, a predominantly Christian local government. Emirates are known to be the outcome of Jihad conquest. Unfortunately in the case of Kajuru, there was no war not to talk about conquest.
The Kaduna state government in a tweet announced that the Kajuru Chiefdom had requested to be ‘redesignated’ as Emirate.
When did it becomes the prerogative of a Chief to aspire to be classified an Emir? Can a minority local chief in Giwa or Igabi also aspire to be classified a ‘Sarkin dodo'(JuJu Chief) and the government accepts such with same alacrity?.
Whatever is slowing down the process of justice in the trial of the suspected killer of Agom Adara must be reviewed and steps taking by the Kaduna state justice department to ensure that justice is not only served but served well and on time.
Only true justice would prove the court of public opinion wrong or right on the assumptions being made about who killed Agom Adara and why he was killed and the Kaduna state government holds the key to ensuring that such assumptions are brought to end by making sure that justice is served.
Steven Kefas writes from Kaduna Nigeria.