5 important things Osinbajo said during visit to crisis spot

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo visited Plateau State on Monday, June 25, 2018, following clashes between nomadic herdsmen and farmers.

The clashes led to the death of 86 persons in Razat, Ruku, Nyarr, Kura and Gana-Ropp villages of Gashish District in Barkin Ladi local government area of Plateau State, on the weekend of June 23-24, 2018.

Osinbajo was sent to Plateau by President Buhari for an on-the-spot assessment of the crisis.

Here are 5 important things Osinbajo said while addressing leaders of the affected communities.

1. Osinbajo tells leaders in Plateau to be bold and tell their people the truth

The vice president said: "we must be bold enough to be able to tell our communities that resolving this dispute is a give and take issue. There is no zero-some game here. So many killings, so many losses, so many deaths over time. But we must find a solution. And the solution is in the type of sacrifices that leaders are prepared to make.

"Sometimes, you may be unpopular with your communities because you make some concessions. That is what leadership is about".

2. There will be relief materials and financial assistance for those affected

According to Osinbajo: "NEMA (National Emergency Management Agency) is here with me and they will be ensuring that relief materials are provided in the various areas where they are required. The DG of NEMA will ensure that that is done. We’ve also talked about the N10billion fund which the government approved mainly for the rehabilitation of farms and farming communities.

"The fund is to enable farmers who have not been able to farm or who have lost farmlands, to be rehabilitated. We will provide inputs and whatever assistance is required so that they can go back to their farms. We are going to make that available here".

3. Osinbajo condoles with families who lost loved ones

"We hope and pray that we’ll see an end to these cycles of violence. We express our sincere condolences to all of those who have lost family and friends in these last spate of killings and we pray that the almighty God will console the families and the relations of those who have lost their lives and we pray that we’ll never see a repeat of these kinds of killings", he said.

4. Those who killed will be arrested, Osinbajo promised

Osinbajo vowed that perpetrators of the attack won't go unpunished.

"So many people have lost their lives in the last few days and this has been attributed to herdsmen. There are condemnable killings. There are vicious and horrible. There is no reason at all why anyone who commits these offences will escape. and those persons will face the law. And other arrests will be made.

"I think it’s important that there is justice. Those who have been killed cannot just be killed and we allow that to just go by. It’s not acceptable at all. It is our duty to ensure that these individuals are prosecuted and I want to assure you that we will do so. We will make sure that those who have been arrested are duly prosecuted and that others who are engaged in this heinous conduct are also arrested and prosecuted".

5. It doesn't matter whether the attacks were perpetrated by herdsmen or not

In the words of the vice president; "A lot of the crisis are not a year old or two years old. Many of these crises are almost historical in terms of the number of years that they have continued to manifest themselves. Some have been 10 years ago, some even much earlier.

"It doesn’t matter whether these killings are by herdsmen or villagers or whether it is villagers who in one way or the other have killed others. It is important that we condemn these killings".