President Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday accused the media as one of the institutions “creating national problems” with their reportage of the herdsmen/farmers’ clashes in Northern Nigeria.
Garba Shehu, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media, in a statement disclosed that President Buhari made the remark during an interactive session with the Nigerian community in China, which is part of his itinerary during the 7th Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation scheduled to hold from September 3 to 4 in Beijing.
Shehu quoted the President as saying the media have not done a proper research to understand the history of the crisis, and their reportage has escalated the crisis.
“To my disappointment, the members of the press in Nigeria do not make enough efforts, in my observation, to study the historical antecedents of issues that are creating national problems for us,” he said.
The President partly blamed the farmers-herders’ controversy on the shrinking of the Lake Chad, which he said, had forced many nomadic herders to seek greener pastures for their herds in other parts of the country.
President Buhari also assured the audience that the security agencies are working hard to resolve the crisis.
He also appealed to the media to ensure that their reportage on the crisis is informed and balanced and devoid of subjectivity.
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