Northern Governors in a meeting over killings

State Governors under the aegis of the Northern Governors Forum, are currently locked in a meeting in Kaduna where they will be discussing the incessant killings by Fulani herdsmen and the latest abduction of schoolgirls in Dapchi, Yobe State.

“Top on the agenda of today’s meeting is the issue of the lingering inter-communal crisis in various parts of the region, which in recent times, appear to be escalating with deadly and destructive consequences such as the conflicts between farmers and herdsmen”, Sokoto State Governor Aminu Tambuwal said.

Tambuwal added that; “As elected leaders, it is our primary responsibility to take a hard and critical and come up with implementable ways and means of addressing them squarely.

“It is also critically important, as a long term measure, to device viable strategies to forestall all forms of security challenges that may likely erupt in the future.

Commendation

The Governors also commended the President Buhari for the measures he's taken to rein in the terrorists, rescue abducted schoolgirlsand tackle the herdsmen-famers clashes.

“I need to emphasize that whatever resolutions we may arrive at, should be without prejudice to the various commendable and comprehensive measures being put in place by the Federal Government in addressing the security challenges; especially the recent abduction of the Dapchi School Girls.

“We appreciate and commend the efforts being made by President Muhammadu Buhari in the Dapchi crisis by ensuring the deployment of all necessary security personnel and equipment towards the rescue of the abducted girls", Tambuwal said.

“Similarly, in the last few days, Taraba and Kaduna States have again experienced spates of deadly and destructive communal clashes which culminated in the loss of many lives and destruction of millions of naira worth of property.

“Although the security agencies have responded positively and are now on top of the situation, we, as a Forum, need to pay particular attention to the root causes of such conflicts and their seemingly intractable nature with an open mind and from an unbiased perspective, in order to arrive at comprehensive means of addressing them. We should, in the process, also avoid inputting political, ethnic or religious colorations to the conflict”.

Restructuring

The Governors from the 19 northern States will also be discussing restructuring.

A committee was set up by the northern Governors to come up with a report or a terms of reference for restructuring That committee will be supporting its report today.

A spate of killings across Nigeria before the turn of the year, have been blamed on herdsmen of Fulani extraction.

In January, Benue buried 73 of its citizens killed by marauding pastoralists in one day.