Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information and Culture, has accused President Muhammadu Buhari’s political opponents as the sponsors of the menacing herdsmen.
The minister, while speaking in an interview with Tribune, also claimed that his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), had delivered on all the promises they made.
His words: “We found out that in Benue State, in particular, some people facing corruption charges are the ones that have armed militia. Is it not interesting that Terkula that was arrested is actually a government appointee? And since his arrest, these killings have gone down.
The suspects arrested for killing those priests were not Fulani herdsmen; they are militia men from Benue State.
“Now we have politicians, who are afraid that if Buhari is reelected, they would end up in jail and they are now fuelling this herdsmen crisis, especially in Benue State.”
When asked how APC intended to convince Nigerians to re-elect the party in the 2019 general election, he said: “You see, we have delivered all promises we made.”
He went on to highlight details of the present administration’s fight against insurgency, noting: “Today, there is relative peace. We have been able to recover all territories and today, no single inch of Nigerian territory is under the Boko Haram control.
“Yes, there have been suicide bombings; that is what terrorism is all about. A couple of weeks ago in the US, we saw terrorist attack. About a month or two months ago, we saw what happened in Texas. Terrorists killed many children. This is not a sign of renewed threat; rather, it is a sign of desperation and weakness.
“Look at the regularity it used to occur and now, it is all about intelligence gathering. Yes you would talk about herdsmen-farmer clashes. Was it not something we inherited? The first farmers-herders clash was in 1947,
Even before Nigeria became independent, but over the years, we have been able to manage it. What has aggravated the farmers-herders clash today is the government’s position, its stand on fighting corruption.