The Atyap Community Development Association (ACDA) of Zangon Kataf Local Government Area in Kaduna State has strongly criticized the purported proscription of the ACDA by former Governor Nasir El-Rufai, labeling it as illegal, immoral, and oppressive.
Dr. Samuel Achie, the National President of ACDA, stated that the association has never engaged in any unlawful activities, even in the face of provocation, and has not received any complaints from the former Kaduna State Government regarding such activities. Therefore, the purported proscription is considered illegal, immoral, and part of the former governor’s hostile and vindictive posture towards the Atyap ethnic nationality throughout his tenure.
Dr. Achie clarified that the ACDA was initially registered as the Kataf Youth Development Association and later changed its name to Atyap Community Development Association. The association has branches across Nigeria, including the Federal Capital Territory and the diaspora.
The ACDA’s firm stance against the killers of their people, who have found refuge among the Hausa community in Zangon Kataf town, and their opposition to the former governor’s attempt to forcibly take Atyap ancestral land and hand it over to the Hausa community, is believed to have prompted the desperate actions against the Atyap people.
The ACDA president noted that the purported proscription was never served to the association officially but was discovered through social media. He emphasized that members of the ACDA have fundamental rights to fair hearing, association, freedom of opinion, and other rights protected by the Nigerian Constitution, the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
He assured ACDA members that the association’s leadership would take lawful steps to protect their rights, urging them to remain calm and law-abiding while remaining resolute in their commitment to safeguarding their land and people from those seeking to seize their territory.
Dr. Achie called on the Hausa community in Zangon Kataf town to reject provocateurs who aim to disrupt peaceful relations and encouraged peaceful dialogue as the means to resolve challenges. The ACDA congratulated Senator Uba Sani on assuming leadership in the state, expressing hope that he would address the recurring killings and crises in Atyap land and Southern Kaduna.