The presidency has reacted to a claim that it offered N100 billion to herdsmen to stop the menace of kidnapping.
According to a viral video report by Roots TV, the federal government represented by former Minister of Interior, Abdulrahman Bello Dambazau, met with the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association in Kebbi state and offered them N100 billion over two years to stop the kidnapping in the country.
The report also claimed that Dambazau said the move was to address the issue of insecurity as the prescribed by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
However, reacting to the speculation the federal government said that it never offered N100bn to herdsmen to stop kidnapping.
In a tweet posted on Sunday, January 24, the presidency debunked the claim, saying the information contained in the video is “absolute falsehood”.
Noting that the video first made the rounds two years ago, the presidency quoted presidential spokesman Garba Shehu as saying at the time: “That is an absolute falsehood. In all of those meetings, nothing like money was discussed.”
Also reading on the position, President Muhammadu Buhari’s aide on new media, Bashir Ahmad, said: “The PMB Presidency has never offered money to any criminal group to stop their atrocities.”
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