President Muhammadu Buhari met today with leaders of the Christian Association of Nigeria(CAN) from 19 Northern States and Abuja and
solicited their assistance in bringing to an end the spate of killings in the
Middle Belt and Zamfara. Buhari recounted the efforts by the security agencies
, the hundreds of arrests made against the slowness of the judiciary in
convicting the suspects.
He added that it is Satanic for anyone to suggest that
he is indifferent about the carnage. Here is the text of the president’s speech
I thank you very much for taking the time to pay this visit
today and for the issues you have raised.
The recent killings in Benue, Zamfara and lately Plateau are
wicked, condemnable and completely unacceptable acts.
We, Nigerians, are religious people and no religion or
culture accepts the killing of people for any reason whatsoever.
This is why we must all rise as one to condemn these vile
and wicked acts to ensure that all the culprits are brought to justice.
We owe it to the memory of those who lost their lives in the
violence in Plateau, Benue, Nasarawa, Taraba, Zamfara and elsewhere since 1999
to bring the conflicts to a decisive end. I assure you that we will do this.
Let me make it clear that even a single life lost in any
part of the country is one too many. I came to office vowing to ensure the
protection of lives and property, and I remain committed to this despite the
challenges we have experienced.
I, therefore, seek your support as clerics and religious
leaders to join hands with this administration and give us your full support.
As you all know, deploying law enforcement agencies is fully our responsibility
as a government while creating the platform and mechanisms for dialogue is a
collective effort.
The military and police have arrested hundreds of suspects
across the various flash-points in the region and several prosecutions are
going on. In a number of cases, we have seen convictions. Nigerians are right
when they say they want to see more convictions and I would like to appeal to
the judiciary to help us fast-track these cases.
When some, for clearly political purposes, attempt to
suggest that this government is doing nothing about the killings, and that I,
being Fulani, must be encouraging these satanic acts, it seems to me that there
is no limit to the evil in the minds of men.
Otherwise, how can anyone in their right minds suggest that
I, as an elected President even with substantial votes in the affected areas,
will for any reason do harm by an act of omission to those same people?
Secondly, the problems in all these areas, as you all know,
are historical. There is no administration that has not had to contend with
killings in these same areas over the years.
Indeed, in 2001, you may recall that after thousands were
killed in Plateau State, a State of Emergency was declared and a Governor was
replaced by an Administrator.
To suggest that our Administration is doing nothing is
terribly unfair.
We must not forget that the same Plateau State which has
been crisis-ridden for years has in the past three years been celebrated for
its peacefulness. The Governor’s hard work for peace and the presence of the
military’s Operation Safe Haven must have had some impact.
In recent weeks, we have beefed up its strength with the
deployment of extra Special Forces from the Defence headquarters.
Besides, we currently have no fewer than three special
military intervention forces in the troubled zones.
Operation Safe Haven to secure Plateau State, Operation
Whirl Stroke 1 (OPWS) to secure Benue, Taraba and Nasarawa and OPWS 2 to secure
Zamfara and Kaduna States.
These forces are supported with investigative and
intelligence gathering capabilities from the Nigeria Police Force, Department
of State Services and other agencies.
Government can achieve lasting peace only with the sincere
and active cooperation of communities, religious leaders, youths and other
stakeholders.
These include the Media in whose hands lies the power to
frame, shape the perspectives and narratives which influence the thinking of
millions of people within and outside Nigeria.
Finally, let us collectively shame those who are stoking the
fires of ethnic and religious conflicts for their short-term political gains.
This country belongs equally to Christians and Muslims and
even those who claim ignorance of God.
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