The Federal Government has opted to use decisive military force to deal with perpetrators of killings in Benue State and parts of the country, SaharaReporters has learned.
This website gathered that it is widely believed official circles that the killings are the handiwork of bandits and mercenaries.
An authoritative source told SaharaReporters that the proposed use of decisive military force is one of the outcomes of a meeting of the working group formed about less two weeks ago by the National Economic Council (NEC), which is chaired by the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo.
Kano State governor, Umar Ganguje, who read out highlights and decisions of the NEC to reporters after the council's meeting on Thursday, said the working group “will work in accordance with the President’s commitment to ensuring that all perpetrators of violence are brought to book.”
The working group, made up of governors of Zamfara, Kaduna, Adamawa, Benue, Taraba, Edo, Plateau, Ebonyi & Oyo states, started its work with a meeting presided over by the Vice President immediately after the NEC meeting at the Presidential Villa.
An informed source disclosed that at the end of the meeting last week, it was clear a new approach to the management of the crisis had been settled on.
Insiders revealed that the option settled for will also be infused with a political element, given the mix of religion and ethnicity involved, as a way of avoiding an aggravation of the situation. Analysts explained that the political consideration is the reason the working group includes governors across the country, including the states where the crisis has been intense.
One of the firm outcomes of the working group’s meeting, said sources, is the readiness of the Federal Government to locate and identify perpetrators of the killings.
The group has also resolved to work with the Federal Government to strengthen law enforcement and all security and intelligence agencies in the country .
Sources disclosed that the working group sees, as permanent solution to herdsmen/ farmer clashes, the establishment by each state a consultative process with all stakeholders to design solutions peculiar to each location. This implies that the Federal government will not impose any solution on any state.
"The Vice President assured all that the Federal Government will not impose its ideas on the states and noted that fears being expressed on cattle colonies are misplaced," said a source at the meeting disclosed.
A source confirmed that the military is already on standby and will soon begin to implement decisive military steps to arrest the situation. The Nigerian Police and other security agencies have been asked to recruit new personnel specifically for the combustible areas.