President Muhammadu Buhari has again said that herdsmen in Nigeria
do not carry guns but only wield sticks and occasionally machetes.
He said this on Monday in Washington DC during the bilateral talk
with U.S. President Donald Trump, adding that herdsmen crisis in Nigeria
is an age-long challenge.
“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 matchet 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 Gaddafi, people were recruited from Sahel and trained to shoot
and kill. With the demise of Ghaddaffi they moved to other countries and
region and carried the experience with them,” he said.
President Buhari added that this is what is aggravating herdsmen
crisis in Nigeria. He also appreciated the United States government for
assisting in Nigeria’s fight against insurgency and for US military
presence in Nigeria.
“We are grateful to the United States for agreeing to give us
the aircraft that we asked for. We are even more grateful for the
physical presence of the United States military officials in Nigeria.
Our institutions in Nigeria, for training them and going to the
Northeast to see how they are performing.
“The commitment of the United States to get rid of terrorism
across the world, we have fast earned experience from that and we are
grateful for it,” he said.
Watch a video of their conversation below: