President orders investigation into Benue killings

President

Mallam Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to the President, announced this in a statement issued in Abuja on Sunday.

According to the statement, President Buhari, who expressed deep shock at the latest incident during the past week, which led to hundreds of deaths in four communities in Agatu, Benue, ordered security agencies to get to the root causes of the problem.

``We will conduct an investigation to know exactly what happened; the only way to bring an end to the violence once and for all is to look beyond one incident and ascertain exactly what factors are behind the conflicts,’’ the statement quoted the president as saying.

``We are all one nation and one people.

``There should not be any reason why Nigerians of any group or tongue cannot now reside with one another wherever they find themselves after decades of living together.’’

The President further expressed condolences to the government and people of Benue, particularly the people of the Agatu communities.

He assured the affected communities that the government would do everything possible to ensure that no such incident ever occurred in their midst again.

``Once the investigations are concluded, we will act immediately to address the root of the problem,’’ he said.