Muhammadu Buhari has blamed politicians for taking advantage of violent clashes between cattle herders and farmers and escalating the conflict for political gain.
He decried how increasingly cheap human life has become in the country as allegedly “desperate people” are pursuing their quest for instability and chaos in the hopes that it would give them an advantage in the upcoming elections.
He said, “We know that a number of geographical and economic factors are contributing to the longstanding herdsmen/farmers clashes. But we also know that politicians are taking advantage of the situation. This is incredibly unfortunate.
“Nigerians affected by the herdsmen/farmer clashes must always allow the due process of the law to take its course rather than taking matters into their own hands.”
He noted that information available to the presidency indicated that about one hundred cattle had been rustled by a community in Plateau State, and some herdsmen were killed in the process.
He said this led to the state governor, Simon Lalong, having to invite the aggrieved groups to plead against further action while the law enforcement agents looked into the matter. He said violence broke out less than 24 hours later.
Shehu also alleged that local thugs hijacked the situation and turned it into an opportunity to extort the public, and to attack people from rival political parties.
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