Reno Omokri, a former aide to ex president Goodluck Jonathan has
reacted to recent claims by the presidency that 756 people were killed
in 2-years under his adminitration.
In his response, Reno said Jonathan dealt with the fulani herdsmen decisively.
Former President Jonathan wishes to express his condolences to the
government and people of Benue, Kaduna, Taraba, Adamawa and Nasarawa
states, over the recent spate of killings occasioned by herdsmen/farmers
clashes. His heart bleeds for the sufferings of Nigerians and he calls
on the authorities to do everything in their power to put an end to
these needless killings.
Having said that, let it be known that we find the statement by the
Presidency stating that 756 Nigerians were killed by Fulani herdsmen in
two years under the government of former President Jonathan as a
mischievous assertion by a callous Presidential spokesman who thinks
that death is something to be trivialized. For the avoidance of doubt,
let it be known that the figure of 756 is wrong. But the issue is not
that it is a false figure, the issue is that former President Jonathan
was not inactive in the face of Fulani herdsmen killings during his
Presidency.
While in office, the former President knew that the capacity of the
Nigerian police would be challenged by the sophistication of arms
available to the herdsmen and so after he was elected President and
sworn in on May 29, 2011, former President Jonathan summoned a National
Security Council meeting and ordered that Fulani herdsmen attack must be
decisively dealt with. In July 2012, the Plateau state government
reported that herdsmen killings had reached a head in Barkin Ladi Local
Government Area leading to tens of deaths of Nigerian citizens by Fulani
herdsmen, many of whom were not even Nigerian citizens.
Then President Jonathan, when briefed about the situation insisted
that there would not be such impunity under his leadership and
immediately ordered the army and the Air Force to go to the affected
communities and fish out the perpetrators and bring them to book. The
military immediately obeyed the then President’s orders and sent troops
and helicopters to Barkin Ladi Local Government Area. They ordered all
residents to leave their residence for temporary accommodation provided
for them so they could conduct a joint air and ground operation to flush
out the armed herdsmen who had been suspected of killing innocent
Nigerians. The residents complied and the soldiers went in and not only
did they clear the area, they made arrests which led to trials and
convictions. We wish to remind Nigerians that when this episode was
being carried out, it was precisely members of the opposition who later
became the All Progressive Congress that heavily criticized then
President Jonathan’s orders.
In fact, a prominent member of the APC and now the Governor of Kaduna
State and a known confidante of the President, Malam Nasir El-Rufai
tweeted his now infamous tweet on the 15th of July 2012 threatening that
“We will write this for all to read. Anyone, soldier or not that kills
the Fulani takes a loan repayable one day no matter how long it takes.”
(his exact words). So the question Nigerians need to ask instead of
allowing themselves to be distracted by the statement from the
Presidency is this: Are Nigerians now repaying the ‘loan’ that El-Rufai
threatened to make Nigeria repay? If the then President was not active
in decisively sending the military after herdsmen, why would El-Rufai
have been so pained to have made such a statement?
Let it be known that the former President views herdsmen who kill
unprovoked and with the intention of advancing their own economic and
other interests as terrorists, pure and simple. Not only did he treat
them as terrorists, he also put the military on high alert to protect
Nigerian lives. In conclusion, we state that any group who kills to
advance their agenda is a terror group and failure to address them as
such is a disservice to the Nigerian people
More than 10 Nigerian men were today arrested for illegally residing in
Indonesia. The police acting on a tip off, stormed the homes where the
Nigerian men were staying and arrested them.
