President Muhammadu Buhari has warned those killing innocent people in the southeast to expect a tough response from security forces.
He condemned the viral videos circulating of innocent people being killed describing it as wild and barbarous.
“In the issuance of his very strong condemnation of these “wild, barbarous and wanton killings of innocent people” in the South-East as well as the other parts of the country, which he described as “deeply distressing,” the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu quoted his principal as saying in a statement issued on Wednesday.
“The Presidency wishes to caution against any knee-jerk reactions, the creation of panic, disruption of lives and livelihoods, or even retaliatory violence following the viral videos of the alleged killings of non-indigenes by the Eastern Security Network (ESN) and its mother terrorist group, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
“While expert agencies are now verifying the factuality and veracity of the claims that accompany the horrid pictures being circulated, we call on all citizens to avoid hasty steps or conclusions that could exacerbate the situation, and on the contrary, keep to a line of conduct that will help the law to take its proper course”, the statement added in parts.
The Presidency also cautioned the public against the indiscriminate sharing of posts on social media so as to deny vested interests who seek to divide us and create disturbance the chance to do so.
President Buhari’s response comes a few days after gunmen killed at least 12 people, including a pregnant woman and her four children in Anambra State.
A community leader told the BBC that the pregnant woman and her children were returning home on a motorcycle taxi when gunmen ambushed them in the Orumba area of the state.
The same situation occurred after gunmen beheaded a lawmaker in the state, Okechukwu Okoye.
