Looters now blackmailing Buhari on Herdsmen killings in Benue, Taraba and others – Shehu Garba, presidential spokesperson (Details, pics)

Talks about the recent killings in Benue and Taraba states, among others.

The governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom, said he alerted President Muhammadu Buhari to the imminent attack in Benue State before it later happened on January 1.

Can you confirm the receipt of that intelligence?

This is not true. In any case, the Office of the Vice-President has already shown that there is no truth to the claims made by the governor. This notwithstanding, it is noteworthy that the police had before now put Benue State on red alert.

The Army had mobilised to Benue and for some time, a lot of attacks had been averted. When this attack you mentioned happened, there was a prompt response from the security services and arrests were made. The promptness of the response has been acknowledged by the Tor Tiv, Prof. James Ayatse, and the state governor did not dispute what the Tor Tiv said when the President met with Benue leaders on Monday.

Before now, the President had issued prompt directives to security agencies on the security situation in the country.  He made this clear in his August 21, 2017 broadcast to the nation. In that broadcast, the President asked security agencies not to let the successes achieved in the last months be a reason for them to relax. He said terrorists and criminals must be fought and destroyed relentlessly so that the majority of Nigerians could live in peace and safety. He went further to say that apart from the fight against Boko Haram, this administration will tackle kidnappings, farmers versus herdsmen clashes, in addition to ethnic violence fuelled by political mischief makers. So the President’s stand on the matter is clear.

Gov Ortom specifically said he wrote to inform the then Acting President Yemi Osinbajo that he had information that some herdsmen were planning to attack Benue and that he also told President Buhari after his return from his medical vacation in the United Kingdom, but nothing was done. Why did the President Buhari-led government ignore the warnings?

I have just told you that the Office of the Vice-President issued a statement debunking this claim. You may which to refer to that press release on the issue. The governor also said he informed the National Security Adviser and the Department of State Services about the imminent attack but that there was no response.

How do you relate that with President Buhari’s claims that he is committed to protecting all Nigerians?

We cannot speak for the NSA or the DSS.  Nonetheless, President Buhari’s avowed commitment to protecting Nigerians remains unshaken and is not in doubt.

Some Nigerians are wondering why the President has not visited Benue and Taraba states since the killings. Does he think it is not important?

No. The most important thing is to act and not play politics with the unfortunate and despicable incidents. If he wanted to play politics, the President would have caught a plane and gone there. We are dealing with security issues that require tact, strategy and decisiveness.  That is how to deal with them and that is what the President is doing. The problems cannot be solved with newspaper headlines and Facebook posts.

Many people are also of the view that deploying the Inspector-General of Police in Benue State may not be all that is needed because the attack has spread to other states like Taraba. What happened to intelligence gathering and being proactive in this country?

The escalation of the herdsmen and farmers’ clashes can be traced back to the last decade. The conflict has been there since the existence of the country. The difference here is that this is the first time someone has openly put coffins on display in articulated vehicles, accompanied by weeping women and children and conducted the funeral at the IBB Square, Makurdi.  The President is opposed to the drama around the loss of precious human lives.

Why was it easy for the government to have Operation Python Dance in the South-East but failed to have a major exercise like that in the Middle Belt to fish out killer herdsmen?

The python dance was a military training exercise. It was not to suppress the Indigenous People of Biafra. The operation was one of six military exercises – one for each of the geo-political zones budgeted for by the military and appropriated by the National Assembly for the fiscal year. It was a mere coincidence that there was an escalation of IPOB activities about the same time.

Some Nigerians have described the recent attacks as a conspiracy by the Fulani to take over the country and have their way. How would you react to Nigerians who say the attitude of this government to killer-herdsmen confirms such a conspiracy?

It is a mistaken belief. We issued a statement on January 9 to address this. In that press release, we mentioned that while there are many Nigerians who see the conflict between the nomadic herdsmen and peasant farmers as an ethnic problem, others point to religious differences and agenda.  We then made it clear that the President does not subscribe to such simplistic reductionism.

We said that President Buhari holds the view, as do many experts, that these conflicts are more often than not, as a result of major demographic changes in Nigeria.  We cited an example that when Nigeria attained independence, the population of the country was estimated at about 63,000,000.  Today, the population is estimated at close to 200,000,000; while the land size has not changed and will not change.  Urban sprawl and development have simply reduced land area, both for peasant farming and cattle grazing.

We then said it was both unfair and unkind, for anyone to keep insinuating that the President was condoning the spate of killings in Benue and other neighbouring states. We stand by that our statement.