Southern Kaduna: Buhari not blaming security chiefs; he blames politicians, others

President Muhamadu Buhari has has blamed the ceaseless killings in Southern Kaduna on  politically-motivated banditry, revenge killings and mutual violence by criminal gangs acting on ethnic and religious grounds.

According to him, those involved in these revenge, ethnic/religious motivated killings make intervention efforts of the military and other security agencies in stemming the tide difficult.

In a statement by Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, the Presidency noted that an insight into the bloody crisis, which had continued to claim lives and property in Kaduna State for many years, had been provided by security records of events in the area.

Buhari made this statement in the midst of the calls by the National Assembly and Nigeria to sack the ageing security chiefs and bring on new brooms.

He called on the local authorities in the area to improve their intelligence capabilities so as to always have reliable leads to give to security agents to make timely intervention, the Presidency warned against revenge killings or any form of violation of laws.

The Presidency condemned the recent attacks by bandits in Igali, Birnin Gwari and Giwa local government areas of the State while urging security agencies to intensify their response.

“From available security records, the problem in Southern Kaduna is an evil combination of politically-motivated banditry, revenge killings and mutual violence by criminal gangs acting on ethnic and religious grounds.

“It is a situation in which one criminal group will kill a member of another criminal group out of ethnic and religious motivations which in turn leads to the eruption of revenge and counter-revenge, thereby making the job of the security personnel deployed to protect lives more difficult.

“We note that revenge and counter-revenge only creates a circle of violence, thereby making everyone else unsafe, especially innocent people.

“The Presidency advises the people against taking the law into their own hands which makes the job of security personnel more difficult. Instead, they should report any security breach or threat to peace to the law enforcement agencies.

“What is required is for the local authorities to radically improve their intelligence capabilities so that security agencies will be alerted in a timely manner to enable them forestall any planned attacks,” the statement said.