Buhari vows to hunt down militants ‘and their sponsors’

President Muhammadu Buhari has vowed to deal decisively with the issue of militancy in the Niger Delta region.

In a nationwide address to mark his one year in office, the president lamented the effect of attacks on oil installations.

“If the militants and vandals are testing our resolve, they are much mistaken. We shall apprehend the perpetrators and their sponsors and bring them to justice,” he said.

“The recent spate of attacks by militants disrupting oil and power installations will not distract us from engaging leaders in the region in addressing Niger Delta problems.”

Buhari said his government had been able to recover “significant amount of stolen assets”, saying the details of the status of recovered assets will be published.

“We are also engaged in making recoveries of stolen assets some of which are in different jurisdictions. The processes of recovery can be tedious and time consuming, but today I can confirm that thus far: significant amount of assets have been recovered,” he said.

“A considerable portion of these are at different stages of recovery. Full details of the status and categories of the assets will now be published by the Ministry of Information and updated periodically. When forfeiture formalities are completed these monies will be credited to the treasury and be openly and transparently used in funding developmental projects and the public will be informed.”

Also, the president said that, on his assumption to office, he gave the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) the freedom to do its job; dispelling speculations that he had been tele-guiding the anti-graft agency.

“EFCC was given the freedom to pursue corrupt officials and the judiciary was alerted on what Nigerians expect of them in the fight against corruption,” he said.