Chidi Samuel || President Muhammadu Buhari while on a visit to Taraba state on Monday responded to critics who accuse him of not visiting states where people are killed by stating that he has a way of monitoring developments in such areas instead of rushing to such troubled hot spots and ”making noise”.
The President who is on the first leg of his proposed visits to the troubled states of Taraba, Zamfara, Benue, Yobe and Rivers state appealed to all Nigerians to embrace peace and live together with one another in harmony so that “there could be meaningful development and not destruction.”
Buhari said he had chosen to visit Taraba first, before visiting Benue and Zamfara states, after his trip to Ghana, to also condole with the people of those states over their lost ones.
He said, “I am here (Taraba) to meet with the leadership of the state, to offer my condolences to those who lost loved ones and properties in violence.
“People, sometime, expect me to rush out to the fields, to go and make noise.
“But I have my ways of gathering intelligence. I get to know what is happening across the country without necessarily going to those areas.
“I will be going to Benue and Zamfara after I return from Ghana, to also condole with the people.”
The President called on traditional rulers in the state to step up activities in their various Chiefdoms to foster peaceful coexistence among their subjects and to remain vigilant at all times.
In his response, Governor Darius Ishaku said the state was delighted to welcome the President in its trying time.
Ishaku described Taraba state as a “mini Nigeria” with over 80 tribes and three religions to handle.
He said, “It is not easy to always balance things up here.”
The governor further said that the state was contending with a different species and breed of herdsmen who are militias moving around with AK 47 riffles to remove anything in their way, unlike the known herdsmen who had cohabited with the people for decades without any serious skirmishes.
“The problem is never between the locals. Both the local Fulani and other tribes blend without issues.
“We have a new breed and species of herdsmen militias who move around with sophisticated weapons; they are poised to remove anything in their track.
“They must be arrested now before it degenerates to something we can not contend with”, he concluded.
The President was accompanied to Taraba by service chiefs, the ministers of Defense, Women Affair, Information and Culture, and members of the National Assembly from Taraba.