Segun Atanda/
President Muhammadu Buhari today painted a rosy picture of herdsmen in Nigeria before American President, Donald Trump.
He told Trump in Washington DC during bilateral talk that herdsmen don’t carry guns but sticks, and that the crisis in Nigeria is an age-long challenge.
He said, “The problem of herders in Nigeria is a very long historical thing. The Nigerian herders don’t carry anything more than a stick and occasionally a machete to cut down foliage and give it to their animals, these ones are carrying AK-47.
“So, people should not underrate what happened in Libya. 43 years of Gadhafi, people were recruited from Sahel and trained to shoot and kill. With the demise of Gadhafi they moved to other countries and region and carried the experience with them.”
Buhari’s position, however, puts him on a different page with majority of Nigerians, especially the Christian community that has embarked on a nationwide protest over persistent mass killings in some parts of the country.
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