Buhari returns, condemns killings in Kaduna, orders intensive action against cult violence in Rivers

After attending the ninth edition of the Annual Investment Forum, AIM, where he delivered a keynote address and met with the business community, President Muhammadu Buhari is back home.

The President, on Tuesday, departed Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) for Abuja, at about 3.15 p.m. Nigerian time, landed in Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport at 10.50 p.m. local time.

Buhari and his entourage left Abuja for Jordan Thursday, last week, where he attended and delivered a keynote address at the the World Economic Forum in Dead Sea on Sunday.

In his keynote speech at the 2019 Annual Investment Meeting (AIM) in Dubai on Monday, President Buhari called on world leaders to come up with proposals to create a digital world that is accessible, inclusive and safe to all; adding that a certain level of regulation was needed to preserve the integrity of the digital economy.

Meanwhile, the president has condemned the recent violence in Kaduna State, which  claimed 20 lives in the Adara community. The deaths are a direct result of the hostility between the Adara and Fulani peoples in the state. The two communities have a long history of mistrust between themselves, a release by Mallam Garba Shehu, senior special assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, observed on Tuesday.

In a related development, Shehu said the President also condemned the resurgence of cult killings in Rivers State and ordered for increased community and law enforcement action against its escalation.

Buhari appealled for peace and decried the on-going culture of ‘an eye for an eye’, which he said had “fuelled a number of attacks and reprisal attacks, with the two communities at different times, suffering casualties in Kajuru and Kachia local governments in Kaduna States.”

The President, the release continued, aslo appealled to indigenes of Kaduna and other Nigerians to refrain from making comments that could escalate the crisis in both traditional and social media. He targeted this advice especially to “people who have little knowledge of the history of the longstanding conflict.” Such comments, he said, could fuel further conflict in the area and between the two groups.

Still, President Buhari was not done. He made a special appeal to traditional and religious leaders to be cautious with their comments on the conflict, insisting that whatever words they share publicly should not be inflammatory but be inspired by a deep interest in peace.

Buhari condoled with those who lost loved ones in the attacks, saying: “The entire nation grieves with you. The Nigerian army and police are already in the area to ensure that peace and security are restored.”

In response to reports of the resurgence of cultism in Rivers State that has claimed many lives, the President charged law enforcement agencies to intensify their efforts and effectively end the menace before it escalates.

He urged quick and effective intervention by community and civic leaders in support of law enforcement efforts, in all the areas bedeviled by cult attacks and inter-communal violence.

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