Nigerians on Facebook have criticized the recent comment of President Muhammadu Buhari for claiming that Fulani herdsmen in Nigeria were trained by the late Libyan dictator, Muammar Gaddafi.
President Buhari made this statement in London while speaking with the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury, His Grace Justin Welby. Buhari had said that the herdsmen killings Nigerians were members of militia trained and armed by the late Gaddafi.
According to Buhari, “The problem is even older than us. 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 Gadaffi of Libya. When he was killed, the gunmen escaped with their arms. We encountered some of them fighting with Boko Haram. The problem is not religious, but sociological and economic. But we are working on solutions.”
Recall that the Fulani herdsmen have been alleged to the responsible for thousands of herders/farmer clashes and killings in Benue and other parts of the country.
However, some Nigerians on Facebook wondered why the government would throw blame on the dead, adding that the argument by President Buhari was senseless.
Here are some remarks by some Nigerians infuriated by the comments of their President on killings by herdsmen from Facebook.
Commenting, Olatunji Timothy said “What an irresponsible government! He publicly said that the Boko-Haram militants and the killer herdsmen are largely from Libya. But the same Libyan fugitives you want to give colonies across the nation; the same fugitives you continue to protect, give compensation and to be given amnesty. The same fugitives you are releasing from jail and protecting against prosecutions on the ground of de-radicalization. Till now, the government has not come up with a with a concise move against the criminal herdsmen. What a bizarre governance, Nigeria is unfortunate!”
In his words, Ayokunmi Solomon said “The same President that said we should accommodate the same “killer” herdsmen into our communities and give away our lands to them. He seems to be confused and will never for once take responsibility for his ignorance. We can’t continue this way, ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!!”
Adeshina Oshinowo says “A lazy man would always blame his tools, It is so sad that a once competent General (from the good old days of War Against Indiscipline) would allow those self-centered bigots around him to feed him with false information just to assure the citizenry that the Government of the day is working.”
“Mr. President necessarily needs to explain to us his relationship with the killer herdsmen and all he knows about the origin, sponsorship, and operations of Boko-Harm and stop blaming both the living and the dead for his actions and failures”, says Nso Vatica
For Senator Eyinaya Abaribe “When a commander-in-chief cannot take care of invaders invading Nigeria, why is he still a commander-in-chief? Why do we continue to indulge this president (such) that everywhere he goes, he tells everyone outside this country that he is totally incompetent? Because it is obvious”
