PRESIDENCY’S EXCUSE: Even Jonathan could not stop herdsmen, they killed 756 under him

The Presidency on Wednesday expressed dismay at people who are insinuating that the reckless killings by suspected Fulani herdsmen are happening with government apparently doing little or nothing to stop it because President Muhammadu Buhari is a Fulani.

Many Nigerians had continued to suggest that Buhari’s government has apparently continued to fail in halting the rampant killings by alleged Fulani herdsmen across the country, because they are his kinsmen.

Professor Wole Soyinka, had in a write up on Wednesday, wondered why the Federal Government had failed to take decisive actions against the herdsmen, whose actions are far more injurious than the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) that the Nigeria government recently clamped down on, proscribed and tagged terrorists.

However, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, in a video he released on his Facebook page, claimed herdsmen during former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration killed over 756 people, arguing that it was therefore, not correct to think that the killings are happening because Buhari is a Fulani.

He said, “Something that is disturbing that I have heard about it is linking those developments to the fact that a Fulani man is President and so, he is brooking such kind of evil acts. I think that is very unkind. And I will try to back my position with statistics.

“In 2013, particularly, there were nine cases of herdsmen invading communities in Benue state alone and more than 190 people were killed. In 2014, there were about 16 of such tragic developments with more than 231 people killed. And then there was a change of government in May 2015.

“But between January and May 2015, there were six attacks which left about 335 people dead.

“Now, the question is, during that period, did we have a Fulani president?

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“It is the duty of government to preserve the lives of the citizenry. It is the responsibility of government to maintain law and order and that this government is determined to do. Therefore, let nobody say that all this is happening because we have a Fulani president.

“We have had many Fulani presidents in the past and this issue of herders and local communities at loggerheads has predated this government. But I will just like to appeal to Nigerians that the Muhammadu Buhari government is determined to crack this issue, is determined to get to the bottom of it and it will get done.”

See Adesina’s video below:

 

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