TheCable

President Muhammadu Buhari says “harder times’’ await bandits whose activities have brought sorrow to Nigerians and heightened insecurity in parts of the country.

Buhari spoke when he received a delegation of eminent and respected citizens of Niger state led by Abubakar Sani Bello, governor of the state, in Abuja, on Tuesday.

Buhari said the activities of the bandits had forced many to abandon their farms and homes.

He said if the government does not secure the country, it will be difficult to manage the economy properly.

“I was taken aback by what is happening in the north-west and other parts of the country. During our campaigns, we knew about the Boko Haram. What is coming now is surprising,” Buhari said.

“It is not ethnicity or religion, rather it is one evil plan against the country. We have to be harder on them. One of the responsibilities of government is to provide security. If we don’t secure the country, we will not be able to manage the economy properly.”

The president said the onslaught of the bandits had also affected agricultural output in some parts of the country because many farmers had had to stay away for safety despite the favourable weather for farming.

He said the poverty level in the country would be significantly controlled by diversifying into agriculture instead of the heavy reliance on oil.

He noted that the discovery of oil and gas reserves in Chad Basin, Benue trough and Bida, and some parts of Bauchi and Gombe, would further bolster current efforts to strengthen the Nigerian economy.

He advised leaders in the Niger Delta to “counsel those who blow up pipelines, resulting in spillages that affect farming and farmlands’’, adding that the loss had always been collective and sometimes turning hard-working farmers to victims.