Buhari orders massive transfer of police personnel in Zamfara, says ‘desperate politicians behind Plateau killings’

President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered massive transfer of police personnel in Zamfara State as part of deliberate measures to address cases of banditry in the North-West state.
The President disclosed this when a delegation of the Supreme Council for Sharia in Nigeria visited him at the State House, Abuja, on Monday.
Buhari was reacting to the burning issue of violent conflicts in some parts of country.
Zamfara State has been battling cattle rustling and kidnapping in recent months.
Bandits and cattle thieves have been terrorizing villages in the state in the past months with many innocent citizens killed and villages burnt or destroyed.
Worried by persistent killings, Governor Abdul’aziz Yari of Zamfara State had on June 15 said he had dropped his responsibility as Chief Security Officer of the state as he had no control over security machinery in the state.
Yari said that his decision was occasioned by the seeming helplessness of his administration and the people to check the persistent killings in the state.
He, therefore, frowned at the prevailing situation in the state where as the chief security officer of the state, he could not take decisions on strategies for protecting the state and its people, and had it implemented.
However, Buhari told the Shari’ah delegation that he was putting in his best to address all security challenges in Zamfara and other parts of the country.
He said that following his dissatisfaction with the performance of the Police in Zamfara State, he ordered a massive transfer of officers and men who had stayed three years and above in the troubled state.
The President also revealed that he had received a “stiff bill” from the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, for the restoration of the dilapidated infrastructure and facilities of the Federal Government-owned radio stations in all states of the federation.
He pledged that something would be done about the situation.
Spokesman of the delegation and the Vice-President of the Supreme Council for Sharia in Nigeria, Sheikh Hadiyyatullahi Abdulrashid, had commended President Buhari for his efforts toward uplifting the quality of life of all Nigerians.
He, however, appealed to the President to address the pathetic state of Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) Kaduna.
Meanwhile, Buhari, on Monday, decried how desperate politicians have increasingly cheapened human life in their quest to establish a reign of instability and chaos in the country for political gains.
Buhari, who was reacting to recent clashes in Plateau State, which left scores dead, said in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, in Abuja, that those behind the killings hoped that it would give them an advantage in the coming elections.
He said: “We know that a number of geographical and economic factors are contributing to the longstanding herdsmen/farmers clashes.
“But we also know that politicians are taking advantage of the situation. This is incredibly unfortunate.
“Nigerians affected by the herdsmen/ farmer clashes must always allow the due process of the law to take its course rather than taking matters into their own hands.’’
The presidency quoted security information which indicated that about one hundred cattle were rustled by a community in Plateau State, and some herdsmen were killed in the process.
The report also revealed that the state governor, Simon Lalong, had invited the aggrieved groups and pleaded against further action while the law enforcement agents looked into the matter.
Less than 24 hours later, violence broke out.
It further stated that some local thugs then took advantage of the situation, turning it into an opportunity to extort the public, and to attack people from rival political parties.
“There were reports of vehicles being stopped along the roads in the state, with people being dragged out of their cars and attacked if they stated that they supported certain politicians or political party.
“On his way back to Jos after attending the All Progressives Congress (APC) Convention in Abuja, the state governor had to dismantle a number of illegal road blocks set up by these thugs. There were also a number of dead bodies thugs had killed, lying along the road,’’ the report added.
The Police Command in Plateau had on Sunday confirmed the killing of 86 people in attacks on Razat, Ruku, Nyarr, Kura and Gana-Ropp villages of Gashish District in Barkin Ladi Local Government Area of the state.
The command had earlier said that only 11 persons were killed.
ASP Terna Tyopev, the command’s Public Relations Officer (PPRO) confirmed the new figure on Sunday in Jos.
The Plateau State Government had since announced a dusk to dawn curfew in Riyom, Barkin Ladi and Jos South local government areas to check further breakdown of law and order in the state.