Buhari can’t kill those who voted for him in 2015, says VP

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo says there is no way his principal, President Muhammadu Buhari, would preside over the killing of Nigerians especially in states where the All Progressives Congress (APC) had majority of votes in 2015.

Speaking at a meeting with church leaders and pastors on in Calabar on Tuesday, September 11, 2018, Osinbajo said the killings could be traced to as far back as 1999 till date.

“We as a government have a responsibility to protect the lives of our people but we also understand clearly, what is happening precedes this administration,” Osinbajo said.

“In Plateau State for a start, there were several killings since 1999 and in 2001, there was a state of emergency there where a civilian governor was sacked and replaced with a military administrator yet the killings continued until 2015”.

The Vice President said the killings are not a Muslim/Christian conflict but a struggle for scarce resources such as land, pasture and water.

“It is convenient for some people to conclude that because the President is a Muslim and a Fulani that is why the killings are taking place but why would a leader want to kill the people who elected him and if you recall, the President won in Benue State; the conflict is strictly a herders’ /farmers crisis”.

Osinbajo said the federal government is advocating for ranching to address the situation due to the number of cattle is increasing in the country.

Why Leah Sharibu isn’t home, yet

Asked on government’s inability to secure the release of Leah Sharibu, Osinbajo said: “Under the circumstances Boko Haram has been split into two and function independent of each other so we have to do go through it painstakingly."

He however assured that the government is doing all it can to negotiate with the two groups and ensure the release of the girls and return them to their parents