Acting President Yemi Osinbajo, on Tuesday vowed that Federal Government will deal with any group of persons or individuals who foment trouble through hate and divisive speeches in the country.
Speaking at a consultative meeting with ‘Leaders of Thought’ from the Northern states of the country, at the Banquet Hall, Presidential Villa, Abuja, Osinbajo said that government would invoke it’s full powers to crush any persons or groups that cause violence in Nigeria.
He said “People are bound to complain of marginalization but we must be careful the way we go about it.
“This is not the time to retreat but it is a time to come together and work together. Hate or decisive speeches will be met with decisive action. No one will be made to get away with hate speeches that will lead to violence”.
Osinbajo said government will take very seriously any hate or decisive speeches designed to cause “violence and disrupt the peace of this country”.
“It is so because when violence starts you cannot control it. Wars these days don’t end. We owe it a duty to hand our generations a peaceful country”.
“Leaving in a diverse country like ours, we are sure to face challenges considering our diverse nature. In the past few weeks there have been louder noises of hate and decisive speeches more than the past.
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“There was the loud agitation about secession by some groups in the southeast and those affiliated to them. The call by a group of young people from the North giving ultimatum for those from the east to leave by October.
“There are those who may say they should be ignored but I believe we need to address these issues,” he said
Osinbajo noted however that “our diverse nature has been our strength. We do not have any sort of homogenous place. Any stone strewn may hit targets that they are not intended so that we don’t create crisis not intended”.
The acting president while expressing gratitude at the presence of the Northern leaders disclosed that the consultative meetings would continue with tradition as well as religious leaders from both South and North and that the consultation will end on Sunday.
Present at the meeting are Senate President Bukola Saraki, Speaker of the House of Representatives Yakubu Dogara, IGP, NSA, Abba Kyari, Chief of Staff to the President, Mansur Dan-Ali, Minister of Defence, Adulrahman Dambazau, Minister of interior among others.
Some leaders from the North at the meeting include former IGP Ibrahim Coomasie, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) Chairman, Yakubu Pam, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) chairman Northern Nigeria; Gen Martin Agwai (rtd), Bashir Ibrahim, Kabiru Chafe, Ibrahim Wushishi, Aliyu Wamako, Ango Abdullahi, Fatimah Abubakar and Mohammed Hyatudeen among others.
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