Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari has decried the increasing violence in the country and charged the Nigeria Police to put an end to the violence.
Buhari made the remarks during a condolence visit to Kaduna State in a statement read by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina.
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The President expressed sadness over the loss of lives and property in Kasuwan Magani and around Kaduna metropolis.
President Muhammadu said further that he is closely monitoring the Nigeria Police Force as violence pervades various sections of the country.
He said, men of the Nigeria Police should remain vigilant in providing security for affected communities and also diligently prosecute criminal offences.
“The Nigerian Police are in the frontline of securing communities. For the judiciary, unless the investigations are credible and rapidly done, there is nothing they can do.
From now on, the Nigeria police, you better watch it, I am going to watch you closely,” the President said.
The President said he would no longer fold his arms and allow the people responsible for the killings especially in Southern Kaduna to go unpunished.
.He said further;
“If in the past, they (perpetrators of violence) got away scot-free, we shall now hold everyone to account for these latest killings.
It is unacceptable that criminal elements can visit on citizens the wanton killings recorded in the Kasuwan Magani incident of October 18, 2018 and the unrest around Kaduna metropolis a few days later. This must stop.”
The President made a passionate appeal through the statement to community leaders including ward heads, village heads and traditional rulers to be closer to their people.
He said they should not protect people who plan to wreck havoc on their communities from the Nigerian police and other law enforcement agencies.
He commiserated with the government and people of Kaduna State, and families who lost loved ones in the violent that drowned the state in the last few weeks.
He also paid tribute to the late Agom Adara, Dr Maiwada Galadima who was murdered saying the traditional ruler served his community and Kaduna state with dedication.
Buhari validated the Kaduna state government decesion to provide facilities to increase the capacity of security personnel in the state.
“On their part, citizens also have a duty to be law-abiding in their conduct and within their communities.
There is a need to avoid violence as a tool of negotiation or obtaining advantage, and learn to listen to each other and commit to resolving differences through peaceful means.
The federal security agencies will hunt and prosecute all those who sponsored these acts of violence,” he concluded.
Buhari also commented on the killing of Saudi journalist and dissident, Jamal Khashoggi, inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, saying unlike the murder of the Saudi national, the Kaduna killings did not attract international attention which was a signal that Nigeria was gradually becoming irrelevant on the World stage.
“I observed that more than 75 people were killed in Kaduna alone and I haven’t seen anything about it.
It means we are pushing ourselves as a nation and a people towards irrelevance, seen by the world itself.”