A fierce Nigerian critic and public affairs commentator has held President Muhammadu Buhari by the jugular for his inability to have stopped the slaughter of more than 200 persons in Barkin Ladi, Plateau State.
In what looked like a planned and well-coordinated attacks, some suspected Fulani herdsmen said to be dressed in military uniforms were unabatedly doling massacre pills on innocent people in some communities in the area as the All Progressives Party, APC, National Convention that ended Sunday was going on at Eagles Square, Abuja.
Femi Fani-Kayode, a one-time Minister of Aviation in his Twitter handle Sunday alerted “Fulani terrorists have slaughtered over 200 people in Barkin Ladi, Plateau State today.
“Again the victims are Christian indigenes of the state who have had their homes and Churches burnt and their lives cut short by these fiendish invaders. Buhari has said and done nothing!” he lamented.
This swipe came in the wake of strident calls from various quarters and different persons for Federal Government to declare the militant Fulani herdsmen as a terrorist group as it did to Independent Peoples of Biafra (IPOB).
Fresh and multiple reports, from the area said that the attackers destroyed homes and churches, burnt properties and cut lives cut short.
Reacting too, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, the President of the Senate, has advised President Muhammadu Buhari to direct his security chiefs to immediately produce quick response measures aimed at tackling the spate of killings in the country.
Saraki, while responding to the killings in Barkin Ladi Local Government Area in which scores of people were murdered in attacks by unknown assailants on some villages, said it is important for Nigerians to start having the assurances that the government is decisively responding to the current threat to lives and properties in parts of the country.
He said, “I am very sad to hear the news of the incident in Plateau State. This is very depressing and giving the impression that the country is not safe. The problem of Boko Haram in the North-east is well known to everybody but this killing by unknown band of assailants in Benue, Taraba, Plateau and Kaduna States is now giving another dimension to the crisis. Coming at the time we are getting ready for elections, we need to respond fast.”
Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari has finally reacted to the fresh killing of about 200 people in Plateau State.
Reacting to the sad incident, the President in a statement on his verified Twitter page, appealed for calm, even as he assured Nigerians of justice to perpetrators of the dastardly act.
The statement reads “President Buhari has been briefed on the deeply unfortunate killings across a number of communities in Plateau State, today.
“The Nigerian Army and police are supporting the determined efforts of Governor Simon Lalong to end the attacks and bring relief to affected communities.
“President Buhari appeals for calm and assures that no efforts will be spared to bring the perpetrators to justice, and prevent a recurrence/reprisal attacks.
“The President and the entire Federal Government stand with the Government and people of Plateau at this sad time.
“The grievous loss of lives & property arising from the killings in Plateau today is painful and regrettable. My deepest condolences to the affected communities.
“We will not rest until all murderers and criminal elements and their sponsors are incapacitated and brought to justice.”
