By Yusha’u A. Ibrahim, Kano.

Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) has condemned Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufa’i over his recent statements against three senators representing the state at the National Assembly.

It would be recalled that El-Rufa’i had in audio/video clip that went viral on social media, made hateful comment and call to action statement against Senator Shehu Sani, Senator Danjuma Laah and Senator Sulaiman Hunkuyi.

CITAD in a statement, signed by Hamza Ibrahim urged El-Rufa’i to as a matter of urgency withdraw his comments and caution his supporters against respecting his directive or engaging in any form of violence.

The centres also advised the people of Kaduna State to disregard the governor’s statement, calling on the Kaduna state chapter of the ruling APC to condemn the comments as well and encourage the three Senators not to react as well as cautioning followers of both factions against counter utterances.

“We urge the public to remain calm and peaceful, and not react to the statements. The Senators, Shehu Sani, Danjuma Laah and Sulaiman Hunkuyi should also caution their followers not engage in counter hate speech or counter mobilization for violence,” the statement appealed.

The statement lamented that as the chief security officer of Kaduna state, El-Rufa’i needs not to be reminded of the danger of his comments against the politicians.

“Saddled with the responsibility of ensuring peace and security of lives and properties of people in Kaduna state and preventing actions and comments capable of jeopardising peace in the state that is facing security challenges, the governor should have avoided making these sorts of hateful comments. We deeply regret and condemn the inciting comments by Malam Nasir El-Rufa’i.

To the social media players, the centre urged them to understand that circulating the said audio/video clip was giving room to further unnecessary debate and hate speech, as such they should stop promoting the clip and instead advocate for peace.