By Luka Binniyat
“The man dies, he who keeps silent in the face of tyranny,” George Mangasky cited in Wole Soyinka’s The Man Died.
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I have been following the bitter exchanges between my two friends, Rueben Buhari (RB) and Dr. Manzo Maigari on Facebook. I don’t see it as a mere acerbic argument. In my view, it is a collision between truth and honour on one side and abdication of responsibility from the other end.
The subject is the undeniable horror taking place in Kachia Local Government Area where cold, crude, and mindless mass killings are taking place that some people are afraid of revealing.
RB, a Kuturmi young church elder, is from Awon community in Kachia LGA. I have been there. I slept in his father’s compound years ago. Awon is not just a place; it is a memory that refuses to die in me. A beautiful village, resting quietly beside a hauntingly beautiful stretch of hills that stand guard over the place.
Those hills, stretching just north of the compound, gave the land a surreal peace. Life flowed there in harmony between the land and the people. I felt the rhythm of safety, peace and hospitality there. The Kuturmi people were warm, hardworking, and proud. Their hospitality was the kind that made you consider staying longer.
The next day, we walked to Gurara Dam, passing through smaller communities that looked prosperous from trade and agriculture. You could see dignity in their labour. You could see life. The villagers greeted us warmly. Among them were strikingly beautiful Kuturmi women. I, a shy married man, simply nodded and walked on.
At Gurara Dam, we swam in the wide, calm waters. Later, we joked with fishermen and buyers. That place, with its 21MW hydro dam, holds enormous tourism potential. It should have been a pride of Kaduna State
Today, that entire stretch of life is gone. Those communities no longer exist, except Awon, which is barely holding on. The people who were not slaughtered or dragged into the forests now live like animals in far away places, many under sub-human conditions. They have been displaced, humiliated and forgotten after their villages have been attacked again and again.
People killed in scores. Homes burnt. Farms destroyed. Wealth looted. Those same beautiful women raped. Young girls abducted. All of this was carried out by filthy, ragged, illiterate Fulani terrorists. Yes! Terrorists! Not the insulting and deceptive label of “bandits” that the Nigerian media shamelessly uses to soften evil.
And the greatest tragedy is this: the world does not know because those who should speak have chosen silence. The same elected leaders who rode to power on the votes of these now broken people have gone mute. Fat on power, comfortable in Abuja and Kaduna, they have sealed their lips.
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“And here is the bitter irony: it took a heated argument between RB and Dr. Manzo for the world to hear that 74 villages under his watch have been overrun by terrorists. Seventy-four!”
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They are more afraid of being seen as “anti-party” than they are of the blood of their own people. Almost all elected Southern Kaduna politicians have rushed into the ruling All Progressives Congress, and with that move, they buried their voices. What a shame!
Even community leaders and socio-cultural groups who were once loud, fearless, and defiant have suddenly gone blind, deaf, and dumb. Why? Because “Uba Sani is better than el-Rufai.” That is the excuse. That is the weak justification for abandoning a bleeding people.
At least Nasir El-Rufai had the decency to announce casualty figures quarterly, even if his hands were far from clean. Today, under Uba Sani, even death is denied.
Silence has replaced accountability. Lies have replaced leadership. When RB and a few brave voices speak, they are attacked.
Yet these are the people doing the job that elected leaders have shamefully abandoned.
Take the January 2026 abduction in Kurmin Wali, Kajuru LGA. 177 worshippers were taken from three churches. 177 human beings! Yet, the Chairman of Kajuru LGA and the Kaduna State Police Commissioner stood before the world and denied it ever happened and threatened those “peddling the rumour,” until the truth disgraced them.
If not for social media and stubborn voices that refused to be silenced, that atrocity would have been buried. But the outrage grew even globally. The noise forced attention. For the first time in three years of bloodshed across Southern Kaduna, Governor Uba Sani was pushed to visit a grieving community there.
It was the noise, rather than empathy that achieved that. Not silence!
Then came Ariko. Easter Sunday. Another attack. Same terrorists. Same pattern. Same blood. And again, the machinery of deception rolled out. The army rushed a statement, painting a picture of gallantry and rescue.
But the truth refused to stay hidden. RB and others exposed the lie. And what happened? The councillor who confirmed the killings; the only local politician who chose truth over timidity was suspended by the Chairman of Kachia LGA, Dr. Manzo Maigari.
What kind of society punishes honesty and rewards conspiratorial silence? What kind of leaders suppress the cries of their own people?
And here is the bitter irony: it took a heated argument between RB and Dr. Manzo for the world to hear that 74 villages under his watch have been overrun by terrorists. Seventy-four!
When I personally spoke to Dr Manzo two days ago, he hinted that efforts were ongoing to return some displaced persons. Good. But why whisper it? Why hide even the little good being done? What kind of leadership trembles before power but stands tall while suppressing truth?
Today, more than 240 communities in Southern Kaduna have been displaced. Kajuru, Chikun, and Kachia are bleeding the most. I say this with authority because I keep records. But what does it matter? Who is listening? Who cares?
As long as those in positions of authority choose silence, these communities will remain invisible. Their suffering will remain buried. Their dead will remain uncounted.
From Kurmin Wali to Ariko, one truth stands clear: whenever people made noise, the world listened. Action is taken. Whenever leaders kept quiet, evil thrived.
Silence is not neutral. Silence is a collaborator. Silence kills.
Binniyat is a journalist and rights activist who can be reached at luka.binniyat@gmail.com
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