President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday publicly blamed
former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi who was killed seven years ago for the
ongoing killings across central Nigeria.
The killings have long been linked to herdsmen, and some
herders of the Fulani ethnic stock have claimed responsibility for some
attacks.
But the president said Mr Gaddafi, a dictator swept away by
an uprising in 2011, was to blame for the alarming dimension the attacks have
taken in recent years.
Mr Gaddafi was killed in October 2011 following weeks of
violent uprising across Libya, ending his 42-year reign. He was 69.
Prior to his death, which was aided by the Western incursion
into the country, Mr Gaddafi reportedly armed his supporters to ward off the
rebellion against him. Libya subsequently plunged into a civil war that still
lingers nearly seven years later.
In London with the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby on
Wednesday, President Buhari said the arms Mr Gaddafi provided to his supporters
had filtered into Nigeria where they are now being used to fuel killings across
the north-central.
“The problem is even older than us,” Mr Buhari said of
killings. “It has always been there, but now made worse by the influx of armed
gunmen from the Sahel region into different parts of the West African
sub-region.”
“These gunmen were trained and armed by Muammar Gaddafi of
Libya. When he was killed, the gunmen escaped with their arms. We encountered
some of them fighting with Boko Haram.
“Herdsmen that we used to know carried only sticks and maybe
a cutlass to clear the way, but these ones now carry sophisticated weapons,” Mr
Buhari said.
He once again dismissed claims that the attacks might have
tribal or religious undertone because they largely occurred at
Christian-dominated and minority tribes areas, saying those propagating the
assertion are doing so for political gains.
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President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday publicly blamed
former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi who was killed seven years ago for the
ongoing killings across central Nigeria.
The killings have long been linked to herdsmen, and some
herders of the Fulani ethnic stock have claimed responsibility for some
attacks.
But the president said Mr Gaddafi, a dictator swept away by
an uprising in 2011, was to blame for the alarming dimension the attacks have
taken in recent years.
Mr Gaddafi was killed in October 2011 following weeks of
violent uprising across Libya, ending his 42-year reign. He was 69.
Prior to his death, which was aided by the Western incursion
into the country, Mr Gaddafi reportedly armed his supporters to ward off the
rebellion against him. Libya subsequently plunged into a civil war that still
lingers nearly seven years later.
In London with the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby on
Wednesday, President Buhari said the arms Mr Gaddafi provided to his supporters
had filtered into Nigeria where they are now being used to fuel killings across
the north-central.
“The problem is even older than us,” Mr Buhari said of
killings. “It has always been there, but now made worse by the influx of armed
gunmen from the Sahel region into different parts of the West African
sub-region.”
“These gunmen were trained and armed by Muammar Gaddafi of
Libya. When he was killed, the gunmen escaped with their arms. We encountered
some of them fighting with Boko Haram.
Gaddafi
“Herdsmen that we used to know carried only sticks and maybe
a cutlass to clear the way, but these ones now carry sophisticated weapons,” Mr
Buhari said.
He once again dismissed claims that the attacks might have
tribal or religious undertone because they largely occurred at
Christian-dominated and minority tribes areas, saying those propagating the
assertion are doing so for political gains.
“The problem is not religious, but sociological and
economic. But we are working on solutions,” Mr Buhari said.
The president has faced criticism from for his response in
combating the crisis headlong.
Former Nigerian leaders Olusegun Obasanjo and Ibrahim
Babangida have criticised Mr Buhari for not demonstrating the capacity to
contain the killings, asking him not to run again in 2019. They had also been joined
by Theophilus Danjuma, a former chief of army staff, who admonished citizens to
defend themselves rather than wait for security agencies.
Mr Danjuma said the Nigerian security agencies are complicit
in the killings, saying many tribes may be wiped out if they wait for federal
authorities to protect them.
Both Mr Buhari and the military have separately issued
statements condemning Mr Danjuma’s remarks and imploring Nigerians not to arm
themselves.
The killings, especially in Benue, Nasarawa and Taraba
States, have resulted in over a thousand deaths this year alone. They have also
caused humanitarian emergencies in those states, with each of them running
camps for hundreds of thousands of internally-displaced persons.
Mr Buhari has long implied that the attackers are foreigners
and not herdsmen, contrary to the accounts of villagers who insist they are
being killed by herders.
source; premiumtimesng
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