Killings meant to instigate war, says Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari
New security measures have been introduced by President Muhammadu Buhari to combat killings in Kaduna, Taraba and Benue states.

The President yesterday expressed outrage over the killing of 45 people in Birnin Gwari, Kaduna State at the weekend.

He said the killings were meant to “instigate war for selfish reasons”, adding that they are “not spontaneous”.

The measures to end the killings and general insecurity in the Middle Belt were stated in a statement by presidential spokesman Garba Shehu yesterday.

These include the confirmation that a new battalion of the Army and a new Police Area Command have been sited in Birnin Gwari.


The Kaduna State Police Command also yesterday announced the deployment of three additional police mobile units to reinforce security in Birnin Gwari where 45 people were killed on Saturday in Gwaska village.

Its spokesman Mukhtar Aliyu told tolasblog that no arrest had been made, but that efforts were on to track down the killers.


President Buhari also said security remained a priority of his administration, which he added would not tolerate the persistent killing of innocent people to set Nigerians against one another.

In another statement, a reaction to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s accusation against the President on killings in the country, Shehu said: “What can President Buhari possibly gain from the killings? There is no intelligent angle from which you analyse the matter and see any possible gain for this government in the wanton destruction of life and property going on.

For the “new” PDP leadership on the other hand, incapable of thinking big about the nation, they see and treat the unfortunate spate of killingS of innocent Nigerians as political gift, about which they seem very happy to cite as the basis for a return to power. They feel bad at every turn the country improves, which is beyond comprehension. They should bury their heads in shame.”