Prof. Kingsley Moghalu, 2019 presidential candidate and former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has clearly told President Muhammadu Buhari that there are grave consequences of his government’s failure to stop heinous crimes being committed by killer herdsmen and bandits across the country.
The former United Nations diplomat gave the warning in a statement he signed and made available for press. Moghalu warned that the situation, if not controlled could result in a widespread ethnic conflict.
The new generation political leader recalled his experience with such situations, including the Rwandan genocide and in other countries as a senior United Nation official in the 1990s.
“The failure of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration to end the menace of criminal herdsmen and bandits throughout Nigeria has led to the stigmatization of the Fulani and other ethnic groups for the crimes of a few,” Moghalu said.
According to him, the failure of Nigerian authorities to deploy effective security and law enforcement action against these criminals has created a dangerous vacuum that is increasingly filled, unsurprisingly, by self-defense measures by several communities across the country.
“This could lead to reprisals based on ethnic profiling. In this context, I deplore the recent killings of innocent Nigerians of Northern extraction in Oyo State,” the former presidential candidate said.
Moghalu, who pointed out that he had played a role internationally to rebuild several failed states after destructive internal conflicts, called on Buhari to act decisively before it becomes too late.
He noted that at this point, the country has lost its monopoly of the use of force since killer herdsmen, bandits and other terrorists can free attack defenseless Nigerians without being brought to book.
The former diplomat warned that no one should be above the country’s laws, wondering why the authorities will appear impotent in cases involving killer-herdsmen and bandits but act decisively to squash peaceful protests by citizens
