Presidency on Monday has revealed that there were political undertones surrounding the recent killings in plateau adding that desperate politicians have increasingly cheapened human life in their quest to establish a reign of instability and chaos in the country for cheap political gains.
The presidency said this in Abuja through the senior Special Assistant on media and Publicity Malam Garba Shehu while reacting to recent clashes in Plateau, which left scores dead.
He said in his statement that those behind the killings hoped that it would give them an advantage in the coming elections.
The president’s media aide revealed that a number of known geographical and economic factors are contributing to the longstanding herdsmen/farmers clashes.
He further revealed that it was public knowledge also that politicians are taking advantage of the situation, which he decried as incredibly unfortunate.
Shehu said “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”.
Reports from The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) revealed that the presidency quoted security information which indicated that about one hundred cattle were rustled by a community in Plateau State, and some herdsmen were killed in the process.
It was also reported that the state governor, Simon Lalong, had invited the aggrieved groups and pleaded against further action while the law enforcement agents looked into the matter.
But the governor’s plea fell on defiant ears as in less than 24 hours later, violence broke out.
Further revelations into events discovered that some local thugs, took advantage of the situation, turning it into an opportunity to extort the public, and to attack political oppinents.
The state Governor on his way back to Jos after attending the All Progressives Congress (APC) Convention in Abuja, reportedly dismantled a number of illegal road blocks set up by these thugs.
Reports also added that there were a number of dead bodies killed by these thugs, with their bodies lying along the road.
Source : Daily Trust online
