President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday reacted to the recent upsurge in communal violence by suspected herdsmen has ordered the police and the military to “take all necessary action to stop the carnage”.
Buhari’s directive followed the latest attack, on Monday, in Ukpabi Nimbo, a community in Enugu State, where dozens of people were reportedly killed by heavily armed herdsmen, which had in earlier attack in Agatu, Benue State, in March, killed over 100 people, according to locals.
The president has been accused of not responding firmly to the attacks that have spread to other states, and has been widely criticised for his silence, but the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, said on Monday the government was working “silently” to end the carnage.
In a statement Wednesday, signed by presidential spokesperson, Garba Shehu, Buhari said stopping the violence was now a priority for his administration.
The statement said that Following continuing reports of attacks by “herdsmen” on communities across the country, particularly Monday’s attack on Ukpabi Nimbo in Enugu State, President Muhammadu Buhari assures all Nigerians, once again, of his administration’s continued commitment to ensuring the safety of lives and property in all parts of the country.
The statement said that while President Buhari unreservedly condemned the attacks the Inspector-General of Police and heads of the nation’s other security agencies, acting on the President’s directive, are already taking urgent steps to fully investigate the attacks, apprehend the perpetrators and bring them to justice.
“Ending the recent upsurge of attacks on communities by herdsmen reportedly armed with sophisticated weapons is now a priority on the Buhari Administration’s agenda for enhanced national security and the Armed Forces and Police have clear instructions to take all necessary action to stop the carnage.”
Meanwhile, President Buhari met with Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi on Wednesday to receive further briefing on the attack on Ukpabi Nimbo and discuss additional measures to forestall similar attacks and restore public confidence.
The President urged all Nigerians to remain calm and assured of his administration’s readiness to deploy all required personnel and resources to remove this new threat to the collective security of the nation.
Also speaking at the public presentation of a book entitled “Who will love my country: Ideas for building the Nigeria of our dream,” written by the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, in Abuja on Wednesday, Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, assured of the president’s commitment to sterm the tide of the attacks across the country.
“Before making my remarks about the book, let me use this platform to condemn, in the strongest possible terms, the attack perpetrated on the Ukpabu Nimbo community in Uzo-Uwani area of Enugu State on Monday. I deeply sympathise with all those who lost dear ones, as well as those who lost their properties, in the attack.
“I have directed the Chief of Defence Staff and the Inspector-General of Police to secure all communities under attacks by herdsmen, and to go after all the groups terrorizing innocent people all over the country. This government will not allow these attacks to continue”, he stated.
President Buhari said in writing the book, the author struck the right notes when he enjoined leaders to carry out programmes that will enhance the prosperity, happiness and living conditions of citizens and stressed the need for change in several areas, including attitudinal change, especially as it concerns corruption and impunity and the need for Nigerians to love their country.
“He (Senator Ekweremadu) demonstrated in the book that Nigerians can only build a Nigeria of their dreams if they make bold efforts to love her above their individual selves and narrow interests,” the President remarked.
He aligned with the views canvassed by Senator Ekweremadu in the book and said for his government, those words propounded by the author amount to preaching to the converted.
“Our mantra is CHANGE, starting with individual attitudinal change. That explains why this Administration will soon launch a major campaign, tagged ‘CHANGE BEGINS WITH ME’, aimed at getting Nigerians to realize that the change they so much desire starts with them. If we all change our ways for the better, the society itself will change” he said.
While endorsing the need to secure the social welfare of the people as encapsulated in the book, the President said it was in line with this that his administration designed the 2016 budget to bring millions of Nigerians out of poverty, enhance the living conditions of the citizens and put smiles on their faces.
“Our 500 billion Naira Social Intervention Fund, which is unprecedented, will, among others, create jobs for 500,000 unemployed graduates and 370,000 unemployed non-graduates; provide loans for one million Nigerians, including market men and women as well as artisans, to start up small businesses; feed 4.5 million school children; ensure conditional cash transfers to the most vulnerable (not unemployed graduates) citizens and provide scholarships to students studying science, technology, engineering and mathematics,” he said.
President Buhari challenged Nigerians to make bold efforts to love their country above their individual selves and narrow interests, saying anyone who puts his or her country over and above other interests will not engage in unbridled corruption, divert money meant for public use to private purposes or divert money for the national treasury into private pockets.
“When we put the public interest above our personal interests, the society benefits, but when the reverse is the case, the society suffers,” he said.
The President congratulated the author for investing his time and energy in writing such a relevant and well-written book that inspires love of country among Nigerians.
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