South-West governors fueling ethnic crisis in their states —Lawan

The President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, has accused governors in the South-West of fueling the recent spate of ethnic crisis which erupted in some states in the region and targeted the people of Fulani extraction.

Lawan who was a guest on BBC Hausa Service on Saturday, said the violence could be traced to the unguarded utterances of governors like Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State and his Oyo State counterpart, Seyi Makinde.

Lawan added that to prevent a reoccurrence of the ethnic crisis, all those responsible for the killings and destruction of properties should be arrested and brought to justice, insisting that it was not enough to just pay compensation to the victims of the crisis.

“What happened in Oyo State and some states in the South-West and probably the South-East was truly a failure of leadership. I will not only blame governors, the governors have a responsibility to protect people living in their states,” Lawan said.

Continuing, he said:

“The utterances of some governors in the South-West region encouraged the indigenes who felt their leaders gave them licence to unleash violence on others.

“We were on recess when the issue was the first brought before the floor of the Senate and it was debated on what happened in various parts of Nigeria and the murder of people in Oyo State.

“We did not approve of political leaders making inciting statements and causing confusion among the people. We condemned any tribe or some irresponsible people who insist that if you are not an indigene of a particular place, you will not come and live there.

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“The governors held a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari and he told them that the federal government will not tolerate utterances from any governor that will incite people leading to the murder of other people who are considered as non-indigenes.

“The Constitution of Nigeria gives every Nigerian the right to live anywhere in the country and pursue means of livelihood. The Vice President also met with the governors and it was agreed that those whose property were burnt during the crisis that occurred should be compensated.

“For me, yes, let compensations be paid, but those responsible for the killings must be brought to justice even when compensation is paid. The security agencies must fish out the perpetrators and bring them to justice if we must address this problem.

“It is not enough to pay money to the families of those who were killed; security agencies should go after those responsible for killings. The security agencies should arrest them and charge them to court. This will serve as deterrent to anyone who wants to cause confusion next time.”

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