Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has frowned over what he described has ‘’not fair to blame President Muhammadu Buhari for the crimes of herders simply because he is Fulani’’.
He noted that herdsmen/farmers clashes had been in existence for more than two decades saying that the issue had given Buhari more concern than any other security challenge.
While speaking at a National Security Summit organized by the National Assembly in Abuja, Osinbajo said the government had deployed mobile police to the troubled areas.
He noted that the military maintained operative bases in the flash areas of the country adding that security apparatus performed creditably given their resource constraints.
Osinbajo, however, solicited the cooperation of the judiciary in ensuring speedy trial of anyone arrested for security problems.
He disclosed that the customs and immigration services were being strengthened to tackle border issues also that as a signatory to the ECOWAS protocol on free movements the government might not restrict the entry of foreign herders.
He assured that the country would continue to keep records of immigrants as it developed modern breeding techniques to ensure foreigners complied with the laws of the country.
Osinbajo said the government had collaborated with states and communities to quell the crisis saying that dialogue was a major way of bringing various groups together.
He maintained that the federal government had fully endorsed the peacebuilding efforts in various states and would continue to support them.
He stated that stakeholders were devising better means of cattle rearing and that making herdsmen and cattle sedentary would not only reduce the tension but also increase productivity of the cattle.