- The Muhammadu Buhari-led government has been criticised for not visiting victims of violent attacks in Dapchi, Taraba, Benue and other areas
- Speaking on the reason he and his boss have not visited, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo said condolence visits alone won't solve the problems
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has spoken on the reason he and President Muhammadu Buhari have not visited some communities attacked recently.
The federal government has been criticised severally by many Nigerians for not showing empathy to victims of violent attacks by physically visiting them. The recent being the abduction of 110 students by Boko Haram terrorists in Dapchi, Yobe state.
Buhari and Osinbajo are also yet to visit Benue, Zamfara, Adamawa and Taraba states which were also subjected to attacks in recent times.
Speaking with some journalists in Lagos over the weekend, Osinbajo said while the government has expressed sympathy with the people, condolence visits alone would not solve the problem.
President Buhari and Vice President Osinbajo have stayed away from violent prone states in recent times. Photo credit: Novo Isioro
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His words: “There is no amount of condolence that can compensate for the loss of life. Benue killing is one set of killing far too much; there is no amount of condolence that can compensate for that. And I want to say that it’s a massive tragedy.
“But the question that you seem to ask I’ve been to Zamfara, I’ve been to Adamawa when this killing took place. There are those who said, ‘oh, why don’t you visit the Fulani settlement, why do visit only where Christians were?’
“I even visited Benue in September where there have been killing before; then I’ve visited them when the flooding took place and we looked at all the issues and tried to address many of these. There have been several of these issues in different places, recently Dapchi. We have expressed condolences, but no amount of condolence would do.”
Osinbajo noted that ensuring the attacks do not reoccur again by securing the areas were uppermost on the government's mind. He also gave details of the efforts by the government to stem the tide of violent attacks through deployment of security forces.
“The more important thing and our focus has been, is first of all ensuring security in these places. We have to address the security question in a much more robust way; that the police are able to do these effectively. We have deployed the military to Kaduna, two battalions to Kaduna. In Benue and Taraba axis, we have the 93 battalion, we have 72 Special Forces.
“We have full concentration in Taraba and all of that, and by the way, the military is fighting in most of the north-east. So, there is a situation where the military is overstretched. So I think the most important thing is, first of all, to ensure they actually address the security of the people,” he said.
NAIJ.com earlier reported that President Muhammadu Buhari came under harsh criticisms recently for attending a wedding ceremony in Kano. Those who attacked the president are angry that he has not visited Benue, Taraba, Borno and states where killings and abductions have been recorded this year.
Meanwhile, the ongoing search for the missing Dapchi girls has been extended to neighbouring countries, the federal government has announced.
In a statement issued in Abuja on Friday, March 2, the minister of information and culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said top military and security officials on Thursday, March 1, travelled to the northeast to add more urgency to the search, which has now been extended beyond the northeast theatre.
The officials according to the statement , include the nation's top military officer and Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Abayomi Olonisakin; Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas; Chief of Army Staff; Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai and the Director-General of the Department of State Services, Alhaji Lawal Daura.
READ ALSO: Federal Government confirms 110 Dapchi schoolgirls missing
Nigerians react as Boko Haram terrorists kidnap over 100 girls in Dapchi, Yobe on Street Gist
Source: Naija.ng