Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed sadness over the latest round of violent clashes between Jukuns and Tivs in Taraba State, and Fulani, Genjon and Bachama in Adamawa State resulting in arson, injuries and deaths, saying that it was needless.
This is even as he has called on religious groups which have successfully been stitching up broken relationships between several communities in Plateau State, to work with security agencies to take up the challenges of reconciling the communities in Kaduna, Taraba and Adamawa States.
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity Garba Shehu, in a statement quoted Buhari as saying, “violence and bloodshed for whatever reason is unacceptable and condemnable, especially when it is coming as the nation celebrates Easter, with all the lessons of love and peace for humanity.”
According to him, “violence has not and cannot be the solution to the resolution of misunderstandings among the people.
“Once we abandon reason and good judgement, we are giving violence the chance to take over and make a bad situation more complicated and difficult to resolve.”
President Buhari noted that “the primary initiative for ending violence once and for all must originate from the local actors involved in these clashes.”
The President also directed the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and the National Commission for Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons to scale up their efforts in bringing succour to displaced people.
President Buhari assured that immediate intervention by the military has brought calm back to communities, and “the government will not rest on its oars to provide security for all Nigerians, and will at the same time engage in dialogue with local stakeholders in order to get to the root of the crises.”