President Buhari links Gadaffi’s hitmen with killer-herdsmen

President Buhari has said that the killer-herdsmen carrying out various attacks in some parts of the country are gunmen trained by the late Libyan President Muammar Gadaffi.



A statement by presidential media aide, Femi Adesina, says President Buhari disclosed this at the Abuja House in London when he received Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby.



According to President Buhari, the gunmen escaped into Nigeria and other West African countries after Gadaffi’s death.


”The problem is even older than us. It has always been there, but now made worse by the influx of gunmen from the Sahel region into different parts of the West African sub-region. They 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.”

Responding to questions on the remaining Dapchi school girl still in Boko Haram captivity, President said:


”We are managing the matter quietly. Making noise would not help. We are collecting as much intelligence as possible, working with the Red Cross and other international organisations. There are too many fraudulent people around, who claim they can do this and that. We won’t deal with them. That was how we got the Dapchi girls back, and the Chibok girls.”