President Muhammadu Buhari condemned the murder of 37 innocent persons by bandits in Sokoto State’s Goronyo Local Government Area and vowed a fierce response “these brutal and remorseless enemies of humanity”.
In a statement on Saturday in Abuja by Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, the president commiserated with the victims of the unfortunate attacks, the Sokoto state government and people.
“This frequent and large scale killings of poor villagers by gangs of mass murderers must be met with the fiercest force the government can mobilise,” Mr Shehu quoted the president as saying.
The presidential spokesman announced the deployment of soldiers to the concerned regions and the implementation of aerial security measures.
“The police commissioner as well as the Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, has since visited the affected local government area, Goronyo.
“The presidency is consulting with states rocked by this tit-for-tat violent attacks with a view to complementing the security measures being put in place by getting the communities to dialogue with one another.
‘‘The results we are getting from Zamfara State where this sort of engagement is ongoing at the instance of the local authorities working with the police and other security agencies are very encouraging.
‘‘Other states in the federation where there are similar security challenges are encouraged to emulate Zamfara in the hope that the solution to the problems will be found,” the spokesman said.
According to him, communities and bandits will continue to be encouraged by the Buhari administration to dialog and disarm.
He advised, however, that the government would not tolerate ”any situation where the spirit of ceasefire is made a mockery of by continued violence against innocent people” (NAN)