The minister of Interior, Abdulrahman Dambazzau, has explained why the military have not been deployed to combat the troublesome Fulani Herdsmen.
Dambazzau explained in an interview with Channels TV, that the reason simply is that the Fulani Herdsmen crisis is a police matter and is of no concern to the military.
“It is a non military issue. It is an issue that borders on law and order.
“It is not every security issue that you call in the military. The constitution is very clear that the responsibility of maintaining law and order is that of the police.
“Where it goes beyond the capacity of the police, that is when the military comes in and it is very clear that the function of the military is to defend the territorial integrity of the country.
“So I believe that if we put the police in its proper shape, then there will be no need for the military” Dambazzau said.
It was put to him that this approach seemed rather soft all things considered and Dambazzau backed the police saying they were equal to the task.
“I believe that our police is equal to the task.
“If you have to employ or deploy the military in every case, I think you may be going off board.
“It is when the police lacks the capacity or when it turns out in form of war or limited war, that is when you may call upon the military” he said.
You can see the video of the interview below.