Women in Benue code-named Concerned Mothers on Monday, urged President Muhammadu Buhari to urgently address the nation and caution herdsmen to stop the killings in the state.
The women led by Mrs. Rebecca Apedzan, a former Commissioner for Agriculture in Benue, who addressed a press conference in Makurdi, lamented the worsening security situation in the country allegedly being perpetrated by herdsmen who they said have killed thousands of people in Benue and other states.
According to the women group, despite the growing insecurity, the attitude of the federal government indicated indifference to the killings of women and children by herders.
They said, with the current happenings in the country, they were left with no option than to conclude as many others have said, that the president is happy to watch his kinsmen turn Benue and other parts of the country into killing fields.
The concerned women further said the situation is worsened by comments by appointees of the president, which indicating that are in tune with growing insecurity in the country.
“What the Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami said comparing the ban on open grazing with spare parts business was insensitive, condemnable and akin to fanning embers of crisis.
“The aide of the President called Garba Shehu denigrates anyone who holds an opinion contrary to that of the Presidency. This is gross negation of the tenets of democracy. In democracies where government is of the people and for the people, leaders of such countries listen to constructive criticism in order to improve,” they said.
“President Buhari should motivate security agencies and direct them to be professional and neutral in the discharge of their duties.
“We call on the international community and lovers of peace across the world to show interest in what is happening in Nigeria, particularly in the Middle Belt region where killings of innocent people by herders have become a common sight, the statement,” they stated.
