The Presidency has absolved
President Muhammadu Buhari of killings perpetrated by Fulani herdsmen in Benue
State and other parts of the federation.
It stated that Buhari was
concerned about the persistent herdsmen and farmers’ clashes, especially when
he sees gruesome pictures of those that were slaughtered.
Buhari’s Senior Special Assistant
on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, who gave the clarification in a statement,
said Buhari was determined to bring an end to the persistent herdsmen and
farmers’ crisis.
The statement reads, “He deeply
sympathizes with the families and all the other direct and indirect victims of
this violence. He is determined to bring it to a permanent end.”
The statement revealed that Mr.
Buhari had been advised to challenge the constitutionality of the anti-open
grazing law passed by Benue and Ekiti States, a suggestion he rejected.
“To find short term and long term
solutions to frequent conflicts between farmers and cattle rearers, the
Presidency is coming up with a conference of stakeholders on infrastructural
and agricultural development to put in place a plan for immediate relief and
long term plan for the expansion of agriculture in the country.
“The conference will tap into
experiences and best practices to draw up a planned development 20-30 years
ahead based on population and development projections and will take into
consideration environmental impacts.
“President Muhammadu Buhari has
been concerned about these conflicts each time he received those very gruesome
pictures of mayhem from several parts of the country, especially as it affected
Benue and neighbouring states. He is equally worried about some public
pronouncements and finger-pointing that are, in most cases very unhelpful to
peaceful coexistence of our diverse peoples.
“The President is conscious of
his duty to Nigerians, not least because he is held accountable for everything
that goes wrong. He deeply sympathizes with the families and all the other
direct and indirect victims of this violence. He is determined to bring it to a
permanent end.
“While there are many Nigerians
who see the conflict between the nomadic herdsmen and peasant farmers as an
ethnic problem, others point to religious differences and agenda. The President
does not subscribe to such simplistic reductionism.
“President Buhari holds the view,
as do many experts, that these conflicts are more often than not, as a result
of major demographic changes in Nigeria. When Nigeria attained independence,
the population of the country was estimated at about 63,000,000. Today the
population is estimated at close to 200,000,000; while the land size has not
changed and will not change. Urban sprawl and development have simply reduced
land area both for peasant farming and cattle grazing.
“It is therefore both unfair and
unkind, for anyone to keep insinuating that the President is condoning the
spate of killings in Benue and other neighboring States.
“President Buhari has publicly
condemned the violence at every turn. He is prepared to permit every possible step
that can lead to the stoppage of the killings. It is on account of this he
brushed aside an opinion that the federal government should challenge the
constitutionality of the anti-open grazing bill. He wanted to give a chance to
the State government to succeed in stopping the senseless killings.
“It will be recalled that as he
did in dealing with the Boko Haram insurgency in northeast Nigeria, which
required sustained action from the government before it was finally curtailed,
President Buhari gave the relevant mandates to the country’s security agencies
to put a stop to the Benue killings.
“The killings must stop and the
security agencies have the President’s support to do this as quickly as
possible.
“Whipping up hate may captivate
the public and score political points on social media, but it will not bring an
end to the crisis. Let every stakeholder instead sit down with the government
and security forces and carry everyone along in finding an all-embracing
solution.
“As a father, a military General
and a statesman, President Buhari has maintained lasting relationships with
Nigerians, Muslims and Christians among every ethnic group. It is also a known
fact that the young people who trek the whole distance of thousands of
kilometers tending the cattle do not own the cattle. In fact many of the cattle
are not owned by Fulanis or Muslims. The point is that it is too simplistic to
see the conflict as ethnic or religious.
“The President seeks the support
and cooperation of all citizens and the media in particular, to join hands with
his administration to find permanent solutions and not to aggravate or escalate
tensions in all conflict areas of the country,” Shehu said.
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