Cattle Rustling Behind Plateau Killings – Presidency
BY VICTOR BUORO, ABUJA – The Presidency on Monday said that based on information available it, the Plateau State killings were as a result of about 100 cattle that were rustled by a community in Plateau State, and in the process, some herdsmen were killed.
This is even as President Muhammadu Buhari decried how increasingly cheap human life was becoming in Nigeria, stressing that desperate people pursued their quest for instability and chaos which they hoped would give them an advantage in the coming elections.
He said that 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.
The President in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu while reacting to recent killings in Plateau State which left over 100 dead, said the government is in the know that a number of geographical and economic factors are contributing to the longstanding herdsmen/farmers clashes.
Buhari further said; “But we also know that politicians are taking advantage of the situation. This is incredibly unfortunate.
“The state governor, Simon Lalong, had invited the aggrieved groups and pleaded against further action while the law enforcement agents looked into the matter. Less than 24 hours later, violence broke out.
“Some local thugs then took advantage of the situation, turning it into an opportunity to extort the public, and to attack people from rival political parties.
“There were reports of vehicles being stopped along the roads in the state, with people being dragged out of their cars and attacked if they stated that they supported certain politicians or political party.
“On his way back to Jos after attending the All Progressives Congress (APC) Convention in Abuja, the state governor had to dismantle a number of illegal road blocks set up by these thugs. There were also a number of dead bodies thugs had killed, lying along the road,” the Presidency stated.
