By Peter Duru & John Mkom
•President’s visits, an afterthought — Fayose
JALINGO — President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday
directed that any Fulani man found in possession of
AK-47 rifles should be charged to court.
The President said this in Jalingo, the Taraba State
capital during a visit to the state to commiserate with
people that lost loved ones in the wake of violence that
engulfed the area recently.
President Muhammadu Buhari in Jalingo, Taraba State,
met with the various traditional rulers, listened to the
complaints of the various ethnic groups in the State.
“Any Fulani man caught with AK-47 should be charged to
court.”
He spoke at Government House, Jalingo, and lamented
lack of oneness and inability of the people to live together
in peace as brothers and sisters.
He said his reason to visit Taraba State first was
informed by the large-scale killing at Mambila Plateau
which he described as more than the number of those
killed in Benue and Zamfara states
He said he will soon embark on the same visit to Zamfara
and Benue states, also to condole with those who lost
their loved ones.
The President called on the traditional rulers in the state
to go to their chiefdoms and preach peace among their
subjects for peaceful coexistence among their people.
He said traditional rulers in Nigeria were the main land
lords, while politicians like himself as the President and
Governor Darius Ishaku of Taraba State were visitors who
might not stay on their seats for ever.
“Any Fulani man caught with AK-47 should be charged to
court. You, the traditional rulers are going to remain on
your stools till you die; Ishaku (the governor) and I may
not last on our seats for long but you are going to be
there till you die.
“Please go to your domains and initiate peace among
your people. These killings will not help us,” President
Buhari said.
The representatives of Yandan, Fulani and Mambila tribes
who were allowed to speak on the occasion, called on the
President to instil justice in the land for the people to live
in peace.
Earlier in his comment, Taraba State governor, Darius
Ishaku, appreciated the President for finding time to visit
the state for condolences.
Ishaku said the crisis in the state had hindered speedy
development which the state government initially
initiated.
He pleaded with with the President to mobilize more
security personnel in the state to forestall further crisis
among the people.
Buhari planning more visits to Benue, Zamfara, Yobe,
Rivers
President Muhammadu Buhari is planning more trips to
Benue, Taraba, Zamfara, Yobe and Rivers states, which
have recorded different forms of violence in 2018.
The development comes weeks after the President was
criticised for not visiting the states to sympathise with the
people.
On Saturday, images of the President at a wedding
ceremony in Kano sparked negative reactions on social
media.
Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to the President on Media
and Publicity, disclosed news of the President’s visit to
the state in a statement yesterday.
This is even as Benue State Government stated yesterday
that the visit will afford the people ample opportunity to
table their problems before the President, as President
Buhari started the assessment with a visist to Taraba
yesterday.
On the President’s proposed visit to the troubled states,
Adesina said: “In view of recent terrorist attacks, criminal
activities and communal clashes in some states leading
to tragic loss of lives and kidnapping of 110 schoolgirls,
President Buhari immediately tasked the Armed Forces
and other Security agencies to compile comprehensive
reports on the various incidents.
“Having received and studied the reports, the President
has decided to undertake an on-the-spot assessment of
the various occurrences and to meet and console the
communities affected.
“From today, March 5, he will visit Taraba, and
subsequently Benue, Yobe, Zamfara and Rivers states.
“President Buhari has been receiving daily briefings, and
has been in constant touch with the governors, and has
been updated with situation reports.
“The President calls on all Nigerians, especially those in
the affected areas, to cooperate fully with the security
agencies to enable them curb the spate of crimes, bring
those responsible to justice and prevent further
occurrences.”
Benue govt reacts
Reacting to the President’s proposed visit, Special
Adviser to Governor Samuel Ortom on Media and
Publicity, Mr. Tahav Agerzua, said the state had long
expected the President’s visit.
He said: “The entire country is his constituency and he is
at liberty to visit any part of the country for any reason if
his schedule permits him.
“For the people of Benue, if you recall, the delegation that
visited him after the New Year day killings that claimed
the lives of over 73 people, told him to visit the state.
Several people have also told him and criticized him for
not coming to commiserate with the people of the states.
“So if he has decided in his wisdom to visit and if his
schedule permits, then we shall welcome him and table
our problems before him. He has the constitutional
responsibility to protect the lives and property of our
people.
“The constitution expects him to do that and we expect
that he shall give account to God for the privileged and
opportunity to govern the country and to provide good
governance.”
Why President and I have not visited troubled areas —
Osinbajo
Meanwhile, the Vice-President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo,
had last weekend, spoken on the reason he and
President Buhari have not visited Dapchi in Yobe State
where 110 students were abducted two weeks ago.
Both men have been criticised for not paying condolence
visits to places where abductions and avoidable deaths
were recorded in recent times.
Speaking with journalists, Osinbajo said while the
government has expressed sympathy with the people,
condolence visits alone would not solve the problem.
He listed some of the measures which the government
has embarked upon to reduce killings and widespread
violence.
Osinbajo said:
“There is no amount of condolence that
can compensate for the loss of life. Benue killing is one
set of killing far too much; there is no amount of
condolence that can compensate for that.
And I want to
say that it’s a massive tragedy.
“But the question that you seem to ask I’ve been to
Zamfara, I’ve been to Adamawa when this killing took
place. There are those who said, ‘oh, why don’t you visit
the Fulani settlement, why do visit only where Christians
were?’
“I even visited Benue in September where there have been
killing before, then I’ve visited them when the flooding
took place and we looked at all the issues and tried to
address many of these. There have been several of these
issues in different places, recently Dapchi.
We have
expressed condolences, but no amount of condolence
would do. The more important thing and our focus has
been, is first of all ensuring security in these places.”
Buhari’s visits, an afterthought — Fayose
Reacting to the visit to Taraba yesterday by the President,
Ekiti State governor, Ayodele Fayose, described the visit
to Taraba and planned visit to Benue, Zamfara, Yobe and
Rivers states as an after-thought.
In a statement issued on his behalf by Lere Olayinka, his
Special Assistant on Public Communications and New
Media, Fayose wondered why the President “refused” to
visit the people immediately after the killings and
abduction.
He likened the President to a selfish king who went on
making merry while his people were in agony only to
show up when the people had already buried their loved
ones that were gruesomely murdered, got over their
anguish and moved on with their lives.
Fayose, who accused Buhari of visiting those states
because of his re-election bid, said: “Obviously, the
president is more concerned about his reelection in 2019
and his visit to those states that he abandoned during
their times of trouble is to seek for votes, not to
sympathise with the people of the states on their loses.
“On January 9 and 12, this year, 88 victims of herdsmen
attacks were given mass burial in Taraba state. Also on
January 11, 2018, another 73 persons killed by suspected
Fulani herdsmen in Benue state were buried in a mass
grave in Makurdi, the state capital.
“Meaning that in Taraba and Benue states alone, 161
Nigerians were given mass burial within three days! This
never caught the attention of our president. Rather, it was
a visit to Nasarawa, a neighbouring state to Benue that
was important to him.
“To further demonstrate his lack of compassion for
Nigerians, while the entire nation, especially parents of
the 110 abducted school girls in Dapchi, Yobe state are
still in anguish, President Buhari went to Kano last
Saturday to attend a social function, thus sparking
negative reactions from Nigerians.
“Apparently, it was the negative reactions of Nigerians,
especially on social media and the effects on the
president’s reelection bid that necessitated his hurried
visit to Taraba state today, and planned visits to Benue,
Zamfara, Yobe and Rivers states.
“I am sure the people of Taraba state won’t be
hoodwinked by the President’s cosmetic sympathy, show
of concern and crocodile tears, which he never bothered
to shed when hundreds of indigenes of the State were
being killed by suspected herdsmen.
“Nigerians can no longer be deceived by a president who
never cared for them when they needed him most.
Therefore, no amount of hurriedly organised campaign
visits will sway the people.”
Visits, bid to hoodwink voters — PDP
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described the
imminent visit of President Muhammadu Buhari to
Taraba, Benue and other crisis-prone areas where
innocent lives were lost recently as an afterthought and a
move to further hoodwink the people ahead of the 2019
general elections.
In a statement issued by the party’s National Publicity
Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, the PDP lamented the
eleventh hour decision of the President to pay a
condolence visit to the affected states after months of
tragedy wrecked on them by suspected Fulani herdsmen.
“Many Nigerians have dismissed the planned visits of
President Buhari to these states as cosmetic
afterthought.
Nigerians have already formed their opinion
of him, and rightly so, as a President that has never
shown them concern in their time of need.
“It is alarming that Mr. President will consider visiting
some of these states months after marauders, insurgents
and bandits committed their havocs. Mr. President has
been in the country and never thought it necessary to pay
a condolence visit to any of these states until Nigerians
raised the alarm alleging a manifest indifference on his
part.
“It is even more pathetic that in Benue state, President
Buhari summoned the leaders of the bereaved people to
the Presidential villa, Abuja, rather than complying with
the age-long tradition of Africans by visiting the
bereaved,” the statement read.
No comments:
Post a Comment