Buhari counters northern leaders order to herdsmen

• Says no one has the right to ask anyone, group to depart from any part of the country

President Muhammadu Buhari has countered the directive of the Northern Elders Forum, demanding Fulani herdsmen to vacate southern Nigeria and return to the north. The northern leaders had protested that southerners have rejected the Fulani herdsmen and, therefore, they should return home.

President Buhari in a statement by Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity told the Fulani herdsmen across the country to disregard the order given by the Northern Elders Forum that they should leave the southern part of the country.

President Buhari emphasized that all citizens of Nigeria are free to move and live within any part of the country they please, whether or not they are originally from there.

The President maintained that no one has the right to direct anyone or group to depart from any part of the country, whether north, south, east or west.