Northern pressure group, Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG), has accused President Muhamadu Buhari of insensitivity, adding that he has lost the trust of Nigerians.
The CNG, in a statement signed by its spokesperson, Mr. Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, said President Buhari's decision to remain in Kano for the wedding of the daughter of Mr. Umar Ganduje, governor of Kano State, 48 hours people were killed in Nguroje on the Mambila Plateau in Taraba State, amounts to insensitivity.
The coalition also blamed governors of Northern states for the same thing.
"We find it insensitive that Northern state governors also celebrated in Kano with Buhari while their people were being killed in Mambila," said CNG.
While condoling with the victims of the violence, the CNG said the President and governors abandoned their primary duty of protecting their people to pursue political capital, thereby betraying the trust reposed in them. The coalition warned that the electorate will hold them accountable at the appropriate time.
"They should be reminded that part of the negligence that consumed the previous administration of Goodluck Jonathan was his campaigning in Kano at the time people were dying at Nyanya. The President and all our elected representatives at all levels should therefore note that their neglect to act decisively in this circumstance will definitely form part of the burdens they would have to carry to the 2019 polls," stated the CNG.
It frowned at the refusal of the Federal Government to heed calls for the imposition of state of emergency in Taraba, Kaduna, Zamfara and Benue states, where communal clashes and banditry have accounted for many deaths.
The coalition urged the Federal Government to take immediate steps to disband all militias and armed groups, using force if necessary, to ensure that no group has the capacity to challenge the power of the state to maintain law and order.
"This has become all the more necessary now with the revelation by the Taraba State Police Command that the latest round of killings were carried out by Mambila militia. With regard to this, we demand that government should take further steps to ensure that the Fulani of Mambila and other places where they are currently being hunted are given adequate protection by state agencies," said CNG.
It also called on the Presidency, Northern federal legislators and governors to show more zeal at protecting the lives and property of pastoral communities everywhere and ensure their right to free movement is not impeded by any legislation or obstacle imposed by a state or a community.
