Southern Kaduna killings: El-Rufai family gives Defence minister 7 days to prove allegation

.El-Rufai’s lawyers demand ₦10bn from Defence minister over alleged defamation

The family of former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has given the Minister of Defence, General Christopher Musa (rtd) seven days to provide evidence or retract his allegation that the former governor planned killings in Southern Kaduna.

The family made the demand in a statement issued on Monday and signed by Bello el-Rufai, a member of the House of Representatives, on behalf of the family.

Recall that Gen Musa had, during a live edition of Politics Today on Channels Television on September 3, 2026, allegedly accused the former governor of actively planning killings in Southern Kaduna while serving as governor of the state.

The minister also accused the former governor of dividing the state along regional lines and restricting movement between northern and southern Kaduna.

 “El-Rufai did a lot of terrible things in Kaduna state. He divided the state into two,” Musa said.

“In that, if you are from the south, you cannot go to the north to live. Those ones from the north were moving to the south.”

Musa accused el-Rufai of paying bandits and said the former governor had spoken publicly about actions taken by his administration.

 “He told us he paid bandits. He told us he did this; he did that. He didn’t hide it,” Musa said.

Reacting to the allegation, the El-Rufai family described it as “grave” and expressed concern that Musa did not present evidence to support the claim.

The family said while the Minister was entitled to express his personal views, it was equally entitled to demand credible evidence to substantiate such a serious allegation.

The statement reads in part: “In the absence of such evidence, we call on him to publicly retract the allegation through the same medium on which it was made.

“Accordingly, General Musa (Rtd.) is hereby given seven (7) days from the date of this statement to either provide evidence in support of his allegation or issue a full public retraction and apology.”

The family warned that failure by the Minister to meet the demand within the stipulated period would compel it to seek legal redress.

“Failure to do so will leave the family with no option but to pursue all appropriate legal remedies available under the law in response to these unsubstantiated allegations,” it said.

Meanwhile, Lawyers to former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, have demanded ₦10 billion in damages from the Minister of Defence, General Christopher Musa (retd.), over alleged defamatory remarks concerning their client.

The demand was contained in a letter before action dated September 7, 2026, and addressed to the Defence Minister at the Federal Ministry of Defence in Abuja.

The legal action followed Musa’s appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today on September 3, 2026, where he spoke about insecurity in Kaduna State and made allegations concerning the former governor.

According to the letter, the minister allegedly accused El-Rufai of deliberately planning the killing of people in Southern Kaduna and paying bandits.

The lawyers also alleged that Musa claimed El-Rufai ordered the demolition of houses and used such actions against his opponents.

El-Rufai’s legal team, Akpan Ubong Chambers, described the statements as false and defamatory, arguing that they portrayed the former governor as a criminal, murderer and sponsor of banditry.

The lawyers demanded a public retraction and apology from the Defence Minister, alongside N10 billion in compensation for the alleged damage to their client’s reputation.

They also denied the allegation that El-Rufai paid bandits, stating that the former governor had consistently maintained that he would neither negotiate with nor pay bandits.

On the issue of demolitions, the lawyers said those carried out during El-Rufai’s tenure as governor were undertaken in accordance with the law and for public purposes.

They further rejected claims that the former governor’s administration divided Kaduna State along ethnic and religious lines, saying the government implemented policies aimed at promoting unity and development across the state.

The lawyers maintained that none of the allegations had been tested, proved or determined by a court of competent jurisdiction and demanded strict proof of the claims.