President Muhammadu Buhari says he has mandated security agencies to deal decisively with all acts of banditry and criminality perpetrated in the name of herdsmen-farmers clashes.
The president said this on Friday at the graduation ceremony of Course 24 at the National Defence College in Abuja.
“On the matter of herdsmen/farmers’ clashes, I wish to state that this administration will not tolerate or condone acts of banditry and criminality, under any guise. As such, our security agencies have been mandated to deal with such acts decisively,” he said.
According to a statement issued by Garba Shehu, presidential spokesman, Buhari also assured Nigerians that his administration was working assiduously in conjunction with local and international partners to rebuild damaged communities in the northeast, as well as to tackle the underdevelopment and neglect in the Niger Delta area by correcting the ills of the past and assuaging inherent grievances.
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He expressed happiness that Nigerians and the international community were beginning to have faith in the administration’s capacity to turn the fortune of Nigeria around.
“International confidence in our country and its future is beginning to return, because of how we are slowly finding ways to solve our problems. The nation is beginning to have faith in the ability of our society’s institutional capacity to tackle our problems. But we must work doubly hard to restore our nation to higher glory. The Nigeria armed forces have proven to be equal to the task of maintaining our internal and external security,” he said.
He also spoke on the efforts to combat corruption, recover looted funds and combat youth unemployment.
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“As part of efforts to address the problem of corruption, we have set in motion legal processes to recover whatever we can and bring to justice those who betrayed their trust. Thus far, we have been able to recover billions of naira from indicted companies and individuals. In addition, through the implementation and enforcement of the treasury single account, we have been able to save more for our nation,” he said.
“Furthermore, in our fight to end poverty in Nigeria, we have set up social interventions and reliefs for the poor in conjunction with the World Bank. In the 2016 budget, we intend to stimulate the economy, making it more competitive by focusing on infrastructural development and address the immediate problems of youth unemployment and the terrible living conditions of the very poor and vulnerable Nigerians.”
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