"Gunmen were trained by Muammar Gaddafi of Libya" - Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday, January 9, publicly blamed former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi who was killed seven years ago for the ongoing killings across central Nigeria. 

President Buhari claimed that bandits, who escaped from Libya after the death of their leader in 2011 took to terrorism, the brunt of which Nigeria and some other African countries are currently bearing.

He added that Nigerian cattle herder use to carry nothing more than a stick, but these are people with AK-47 and people refuse to reflect on the demise of Gaddafi.

The president in an exclusive interview with Arise TV said: “The Nigerian cattle herder use to carry nothing more than a stick, but these are people with AK-47 and people refuse to reflect on the demise of Gaddafi.

“Gaddafi for 43 years in Libya, at some stage, he decided to recruit people from Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, from Central African Republic and these young chaps are not taught to be bricklayers, electricians, plumbers or any trade but to shoot and kill.

“So, when the opposition in Libya succeeded in killing him, they arrested some and they did what they did to them. The rest escaped with their orphans and we encounter some of them in the North-east and they are all over the place now organising attacks.”

While speaking with the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby in April, Buhari said arms Gaddafi provided to his supporters had filtered into Nigeria where they are now being used to fuel killings across the north-central.

He added: “The problem is even older than us. It has always been there, but now made worse by the influx of armed gunmen from the Sahel region into different parts of the West African sub-region.”

“These gunmen were trained and armed by Muammar Gaddafi of Libya. When he was killed, the gunmen escaped with their arms. We encountered some of them fighting with Boko Haram.”

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President Buhari said his government has succeeded in reducing the activities of terrorists in the North-east by reducing their stronghold from 17 local governments to none.

On the deadly crisis in Zamfara state, Buhari said his government had several times changed police personnel to ensure effectiveness.

“We virtually changed all the officers for more than three years in Zamfara state and we did a lot of cross posting and so on. There are issues that I don’t go public (on) as the commander in chief because it will affect the morale of men in the front, so, I try to keep quiet. So the situation in the North-west and the North-east are better.”

Meanwhile, Legit.ng had reported that former military president, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, commended President Buhari for what he says is the president's success in the fight against corruption, insurgency and other security challenges.

In a congratulatory message to President Buhari on his 76th birthday on Saturday, December 15, the former leader hailed the president for providing focused leadership and showing tremendous energy despite his age.