President Buhari Orders Investigation into Benue clashes, Express Deep Shock

President Buhari expressed "deep shock" at the past week's violence between herdsmen from the Fulani ethnic group and local farmers, an official statement said.

Several thousand people have been displaced, according to local media.

Benue has a history of violent attacks and reprisals between semi-nomadic herdsmen and farmers.

The clashes are often linked to cattle raiding.

President Buhari called for unity among Nigerians, saying: "There should not be any reason why Nigerians of any group or tongue cannot now reside with one another."

Different groups of Fulani militants killed a total of more than 1,200 people in 2014, meaning that if taken together they would be the world's fourth deadliest militant group, according to the most recent Global Terrorism Index.

The scope of their attacks is now enough to "pose a serious threat to stability", the report said.

The communal violence in central Nigeria is not connected to the six-year insurgency by Islamist militant group Boko Haram in the country's north-east.

Boko Haram was the world's most deadly militant group, according to the report.

Elite out to discredit Buhari’s administration – Senate leader

The Leader of the Senate, Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume, on Monday disclosed that the bourgeois are on the move to militate against President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration saying their intention is to set masses against this administration.

Ndume in a chat with Journalists on the economic situation in the country explained there is deliberate attempt by elite to set this government against the masses since they have discovered the support base of this administration.

The Senator wondered what the price of dollars had to do with gari, maize and tomatoes that are produced locally in Nigeria.

According to him, the elite are deliberately sabotaging the Buhari administration ‎in order to make the All Progressive Congress (APC) government unpopular.

He explained that the Buhari’s administration has made significant achievement in the area of war against insurgency, war against Corruption and infrastructure decadence in Nigeria.


Senate Leader said,” if not for the saboteurs, Nigerians would have been reaping the dividend of electing President Buhari. Otherwise, what has the fall of Naira to do with millet, tomatoes and other local produced commodities?

“We are working hard on the 2016. Budget and in it President has included things that would enhance the living ‎conditions of Nigerians. We will pass the budget in March.”

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Governor Nasir El-Rufai,of Kaduna State yesterday said he has created over 125,000 direct jobs in the state within the past nine months. El-Rufai stated this during his sixth town hall meeting with the people in Saminaka, Lere Local Government Area of the state. He said the state school feeding programme which he introduced created at least 85,000 jobs for food vendors, their staff and supervisors. “The job impact of ongoing interventions is over 125,000 direct jobs in Kaduna State within less than one year of the APC being in office. The estimates of these include: School feeding programme: at least 85,000 jobs, including the vendors, their staff and supervisors. School uniforms:11,100 jobs, rehabilitation of schools:7,542 jobs, construction of toilets:6,285 jobs, solar boreholes:5,028 jobs, KASTELEA:2,550 jobs,waste collection:6,700 jobs, Science and Maths teachers: 2,300 jobs,” he said. The governor added that the state government is in talks with Dangote and Olam for integrated tomato agro-industrial projects around Galma Dam. He said Olam has also decided to build the largest poultry and feed-mill facility in Sub- Saharan Africa in the state.

El-Rufai, who was accompanied by the senator representing Kaduna-North senatorial district, Alhaji Suleiman Hunkuyi and other top government officials on a police helicopter for aerial view of the state, said operations against cattle-rustlers, kidnappers and other criminal gangs are continuing in the affected areas. “Our security agencies have better vehicles and improved communication infrastructure to respond to threats. Our internal security team, Operation Yaki, has been active in raiding black spots and preventing crimes, while responding more rapidly to robberies and other threats to lives and property.

While thanking security agencies for their efforts and service to our state, we ask our religious and community leaders to continue to preach peace and unity, promote tolerance, discourage hate speech and renew calls for increased vigilance in all our communities, “he said. He said Stallion Group will build a 10,000-hectare rice farm and mill in Kaduna to reduce the dependence on imported rice. “Other rice farm and mill projects are being implemented by many firms to utilize our zero-interest loans around the CBN rice anchor lending programme,” he added