Buhari tells Archbishop of Canterbury Gadaffi and not him is responsible for herdsmen crisis

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has told the Archbishop of Canterbury the Rt Reverend Justin Welby that his government is not blame for the Fulani cattle herdsmen crisis in the country because they were trained by former Libyan leader Muammer Gadaffi.

Currently in the UK to attend the Commonwealth Heads of State Summit and for medical attention, President Buhari held a meeting with the archbishop yesterday. During the meeting, President Buhari told the cleric that irresponsible politics had been brought into the farmers/herders’ crisis but assured him that enduring solutions would be found and justice would be done to all concerned.

 “The problem is even older than us as it has always been there but now it has been made worse by the influx of armed gunmen from the Sahel region into different parts of the West African sub-region. These gunmen were trained and armed by Muammar Gadaffi of Libya and when he was killed, the gunmen escaped with their arms.

We encountered some of them fighting with Boko Haram as the herdsmen that we used to know carried only sticks and maybe a cutlass to clear the way but these ones now carry sophisticated weapons. The problem is not religious but sociological and economic but we are working on solutions,” President Buhari said.

He also explained to Archbishop Welby why he declared his intentions to run for another term in office, saying he did so because Nigerians were talking too much about whether he  would run or not, so, felt he should break the ice. During the visit, the president also recounted some successes of the administration to his guest, with whom he has built a deep friendship in recent times.