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General News of Thursday, 19 August 2021

Source: pulse.ng

Buhari meets Islamic cleric whose followers were killed in Plateau

President Muhammadu Buhari (left) with Sheikh Dahiru Usman Bauchi (right) [Presidency] President Muhammadu Buhari (left) with Sheikh Dahiru Usman Bauchi (right) [Presidency]

President Muhammadu Buhari has met with Sheikh Dahiru Usman Bauchi days after 22 of the cleric's followers were massacred in Plateau State.

Bauchi, the leader of the Tijaniyya Sect in Bauchi State, was received at the Presidential Villa on Thursday, August 19, 2021.

The meeting was also attended by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, who had earlier this week paid a condolence visit to the cleric on behalf of President Buhari.

The minister had told the cleric that the president lost his appetite for food when he received news of the attack.

Dozens of Bauchi's followers were travelling from Bauchi to Ondo State after attending an annual prayer when they were attacked along Rukuba road in Jos North LGA of Plateau on Saturday, August 14.

The mass murder of the travellers has been widely-condemned by citizens and authorities, attracting national attention amid a wave of other killings in the northern region.

President Buhari said last week the 'heinous' attack was planned to specifically target the victims because of their religion.

"Make no mistake about it: in line with my commitment to protect all Nigerians, I have ordered our security agencies to fish out the perpetrators of this gruesome massacre of innocent travellers and bring them to justice," he said.

The Police Force has arrested 33 suspects in connection to the massacre, with authorities calling on aggrieved parties to not launch a reprisal attack in the region plagued by years of ethno-religious crises.

Many parts of Nigeria are plagued by regular acts of violence that have claimed hundreds of lives and displaced thousands from their communities.

At least 1,772 civilians were killed between April and June in violent incidents including terror attacks, abductions, and gang clashes.

Details of Thursday's meeting have not been made public by the Presidency.