President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday said the marauding herdsmen killing innocent Nigerians are from Libya.
Speaking when he hosted the Archbishop of Canterbury, Archbishop Justin Welby at the Abuja House in London, the President said the killer herdsmen were trained and armed by former Libyan President Muammar Gadaffi.
According to him, the crisis which predates his administration has become worse since the inception of his government.
In Nigeria, clashes between herders and farmers have become common especially in the middle-belt and some southern states, claiming hundreds of lives.
“The problem is even older than us. It has always been there, but now made worse by the influx of armed gunmen from the Sahel region into different parts of the West African sub-region,” Mr Buhari said.
“These gunmen were trained and armed by Muammar Gadaffi of Libya. When he was killed, the gunmen escaped with their arms.
“We encountered some of them fighting with Boko Haram. 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.”
Speaking on the war against Boko Haram insurgents, the President stressed on the need for continuous education of the people, “so that they can be free from religious manipulation,” adding that no true religion advocates the hurting or killing of the innocent.
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