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Buhari warns against reprisal killings in Katsina

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President Muhammadu Buhari has condemned the latest round of attacks on farmers by bandits in Damkal and Tsanwa villages in Batsari local government area of Katsina State, saying that killing people in the name of revenge is not acceptable.

Buhari gave the condemnation on Sunday in a statement by Garba Shehu, his Senior Special Assistant t on Media & Publicity.

Reacting to the incident in which many homesteads were razed by fire with many people killed at weekend, the President on Sunday warned that “no one in the country has a right to take laws into his hands by the way of self-help or revenge. Local communities that catch bandits should hand over the suspects to law enforcement authorities instead of meting out capital punishment, leading to a cycle of revenge and counter revenge.”

He urged community leaders and the local authorities to continue their efforts in partnership with law enforcement agencies that bring the surrender of bandits, leading to peace between farmers and herders.

 “The authorities must be allowed to investigate and deal with any breach that occurs. There is no place for violence in a decent society,” said the President.

President Buhari prayed that God will comfort families that have lost loved ones in the attacks and repose the souls of the victims.

The Presidency had at the weekend  earlier  cautioned a section of the political class against misleading the public and inciting protests against the heads of military institutions.

A statement by Buhari’s media aide, Garba Shehu had noted that, “this became necessary in view of received reports that about two thousand men and women have been hired to demonstrate against Nigeria’s service chiefs on Monday.

Shehu said the imminent gathering was the latest in a series of demonstrations orchestrated by the opposition to embarrass the government of President Muhammadu Buhari.

He alleged that as part of the overall scheme, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, with its belligerent politics, has been marching from one embassy to the other in protest against the Buhari administration and the nation’s highest court of justice, the Supreme Court.

He said, “They are keen to give the impression that Nigerians are in support of them as they take to the streets, and they will go to any length to promote this false narrative.

“The recent incident in Maiduguri, Borno State, where an overwhelmingly cheering crowd gathered to welcome President Buhari, while a handful were recorded booing him, is a part this elaborate scheme.

“It is misleading, as some analysts have tried to do, to read this as verdict against President Buhari, who emerged winner with 94 per cent of the votes cast in the Presidential election in the state in February last year.

“This was clearly a hired few, but the news was promoted by the opposition who had of course positioned themselves to record the booing – all just to embarrass the President.

“We urge the media to remain unbiased and discerning in their reporting, instead of becoming unwitting tools in the hands of the opposition.

“A group of politicians and beneficiaries of the Boko Haram insurgency is right now paying for people to join their planned protest against our country’s service chiefs, and they will no doubt seek the media’s collaboration on this as usual.

“But there is news and there is promoted content – two very different things, one of which should never make the headlines as these recent fake protests have done”.

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