President Muhammadu Buhari has maintained a silence on the killings in southern Kaduna, which is outrageous, to say the least. Several people have been killed in the area since the last few months in clashes between host farming communities and migrating Fulani herdsmen, who are accused of destroying farmlands and plundering communities. The crisis flared up again about a fortnight ago, leading to the killing of scores of people and injuring of others.
Buhari has a duty to intervene forcefully with the aim of stopping the bloody crisis, which has obviously proved to be an intractable problem for Governor Nasir El-Rufai, particularly given his limited powers over security under Nigeria’s pseudo-federal system. Nobody else can be blamed for this avoidable bloodletting.
Besides, Buhari has on various occasions intervened to try to prevent or stop calamitous situations in other countries. He cannot keep quiet when his own house is on fire.
– Vincent Obia
