President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday told Fulani herdsmen in the Southern parts of the country not to obey the quit order issued to them by the Northern Elders Forum (NEF).
NEF hand in a statement by its chairman, Ango Abdullahi, on Tuesday, asked herdsmen to vacate Southern Nigeria.
But a statement issued on behalf of the President by the Senior Special Assistant, Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, in Abuja quoted the Buhari as saying: “All citizens of Nigeria are free to move and live within any part of the country they please, whether or not they are originally from there.
“In line with our country’s constitution, the government of Nigeria and the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari will protect citizens of Nigeria wherever they find themselves.
“No one has the right to ask anyone or group to depart from any part of the country, whether north, south, east or west.”
The statement questioned the intentions of the NEF and the other so-called leaders in delving into issues with unsolicited, ill-intentioned advice.
It added: “They have no one’s authority to make such pronouncements.
“The polarising role of the Northern Elders Forum and all those other groups dabbling into issues of security to score cheap political points has for long been a sore point in Nigeria’s body polity.
“They should not be allowed to mislead anyone, least of all the Fulani herders.
“The Buhari administration is fully devoted to finding a lasting solution to the herder-farmer clashes in different parts of Nigeria- one that would be acceptable to all the parties involved.”
It said the President, therefore, called on all Nigerians to help keep the peace in the country.
