The Taraba State Governor, Darius Ishaku, has disagreed with President Muhammadu Buhari, who claimed that herdsmen not bear arms but move around with sticks and not guns.
The governor was reacting to Mr Buhari’s comments during a meeting with the United States President, Donald Trump, when he said that the killings were being perpetrated by some fighters trained by the government of the late Muamar Gaddafi in Libya.
However, Mr Ishaku, during an interview with journalists shortly after receiving an award from the Nigerian Medical Association in Abuja on Saturday, said herdsmen carry guns.
The governor said: “Absolutely, it is not true. Who kills who? It is not imaginary. People are being killed by AK-47 and we have to do something to stop it.”
Mr Ishaku, who has been governor for nearly three years, noted that Taraba used to be the most peaceful state in the North-East geopolitical zone before the current crisis.
He noted that nearly 150,000 persons were displaced and this had put a strain on the state’s health facilities.
The governor added, “The insecurity has put a lot of pressure on our health facilities much more than you would anticipate.
“When you have between 100,000 and 150,000 displaced persons and in the North-East, Taraba used to be the safest but of course, we are having our own share of the herdsmen problem and that has added a lot to our health services.
“So, it is a strain on us which means we have to do more, we have to engage more doctors, nurses, specialists and we thank God that we are succeeding.”
