Buhari reaffirms crackdown on killer herdsmen 

• Enugu women protest against killings
For the second time in less than a week, President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered a crackdown on the suspected Fulani herdsmen believed to be terrorising several communities in parts of the country.

He declared that the order to law enforcement agencies to deal “decisively” and “expeditiously” with the matter was part of his administration’s determination to rid the country of the menace.

Speaking at a meeting with members of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) late Monday night, Buhari confirmed that heads of national security agencies had been ordered to take all necessary actions to apprehend and expose those behind the heinous attacks.

A statement yesterday in Abuja by his spokesman, Femi Adesina, the President was quoted as saying “we are determined to secure all Nigerians and I have told the Inspector-General of Police and other security agencies, in very strong terms, to deal decisively with the attackers.”

He expressed his personal condolences to the Catholic Bishop of Enugu, the people of Ukpabi Nimbo and all other communities that had suffered fatalities and other forms of losses from the recent attacks.

The President assured the clerics that he was acting with deliberation and moving methodically to implement his change agenda for the good of the country, adding: “We need to rebuild our institutions methodically, we need to change the way we do things.”

“In the last 10 years, crude oil sold for more that $100 per barrel, but Nigeria did not save.  That is why we have found ourselves where we are today,” Buhari told the delegation, led by the Archbishop of Jos, Most Rev. Ignatius Kaigama.

In his remarks, Kaigama pledged the conference’s solidarity with the President.“We are willing to collaborate with you and with your administration, in which we see hope for a greater Nigeria,” he assured.

Meanwhile, a coalition of 13 women-based non-governmental organisations in the South East yesterday held a peaceful protest against the Enugu killings.

Dressed majorly in black and bearing placards with various inscriptions, the protesters marched from Okpara Square to the Government House and state House of Assembly.

They were received by the state governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, where he promised to do everything within his reach to bring succor to the victims and the bereaved while ensuring that peace was maintained in all nooks and crannies of the state.

Spokesperson for the coalition, Mrs. Joy Onyeso, later handed over their demand note to the governor for onward transmission to the appropriate quarters.

Also yesterday, a strong delegation of All Progressives Congress (APC) governors converged on Enugu, praising the mature manner Governor Ugwuanyi handled the mayhem.

Led by chairman of the party’s governors’ forum and chief executive of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha as well as his Borno State counterpart and Chairman, Northern Governors Forum, Kashim Shettima, the delegation while promising that “this matter is being handled with all urgency and very soon, the culprits will be brought to book,” harped on the unity of the country.

Others who made the trip include Jigawa State Governor Badaru Abubakar as well as Deputy Governors Abubakar Ali of Yobe State and Simeon Achuba of Kogi State.