Brekete Family Under Fire: Journalist Says Ordinary President Silent On Shi’a Victims, Calls Elrufai’s Role “Law of Karma”

By Waziri Isa Adam

ABUJA — The Brekete Family radio programme has come under criticism after journalist Abdulmumin Giwa wrote an open letter to its host, “Ordinary President” Ahmed Isah, accusing him of misrepresenting facts on former Kaduna Governor Nasir Elrufai and failing to speak for Shi’a victims of the 2015 Zaria clash.

In the letter circulated on Thursday, Giwa said he appreciates Isah’s work “of seeking human rights and helping the vulnerable,” but disagreed with his recent remarks on Elrufai.

“Ai kai Mr. Ordinary President, ka cakuda maganarka,” Giwa wrote, alleging that Elrufai was used by foreign powers to carry out killings in Kaduna.
“What we know is this: the governments of Israel and America, through the King of Saudi Arabia, used Elrufai to kill over one thousand Shi’as. They burnt some alive, they buried some alive,” he stated.

Giwa cited Amnesty International, saying the organization pressured the government after releasing “satellite images of the place where Shi’as were buried.” He added that the government later admitted to a massacre and that Elrufai himself said “he buried over 300 in a mass grave in Mando, Kaduna.”

The journalist also referenced a Federal High Court judgment in Abuja ordering the payment of N50 million to the leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, noting that “Elrufai has not paid that money.”

He further quoted the spokesperson of the King of Saudi Arabia as saying “they were the ones who ordered that massacre in Nigeria to destroy what they called ‘Iran’s influence in Africa.’”

Questioning Elrufai’s patriotism, Giwa wrote:
“What kind of patriotism is with Elrufai that would make him take a contract to kill his own countrymen, people from his own region, and fellow Muslims, simply because they have a different religious understanding? Where is leadership in someone with such wicked character? There is none.”

On development in Northern Nigeria, he said:
“Elrufai is of no benefit such that we would say without him, the North cannot develop. With him or without him, if the people of the North truly want development, they will develop. And their development depends on their unity, not on the division that oppressors like Elrufai promote.”

Describing Elrufai’s current challenges, Giwa called it “a simple law of karma” and asked:
“Do you know how many orphans he produced with that evil act? Do you know how many families he destroyed? I know many families where everyone was killed and only one person was left, or just a mother and daughter.”

He directly challenged Isah’s role as a human rights advocate:
“You, Ordinary President, as a human rights advocate, what have you done for the women, children and men among the Shi’as that Elrufai oppressed? Did you not speak for them because maybe you also think the injustice done to them was justified?”

Comparing the treatment of Shi’as to that of terrorists, Giwa asked:
“If terrorists are armed, killing and oppressing people and the government does nothing to them, then what was the offense of these people who were killed, who carried no arms, who did not seek revenge, but rather went to court to file a case?”

He concluded: “The truth is, Elrufai oppressed the Shi’as when he was governor in Kaduna. If we want to correct things, let us correct them.”

Giwa said he wrote “in my capacity as a journalist who observes everyday affairs” and attached photos of women and a baby, stating “those are some of the families that Elrufai eliminated.”