President Muhammadu Buhari has vowed that his government will protect all religious and ethnic groups, whether majority or minority, in line with its responsibility under the constitution.
The president made this assertion after youths from the Hausa and Yoruba communities clashed repeatedly in a market in Ibadan on Thursday and Friday.
Buhari warned that the government would not allow any ethnic or religious group to fan the embers of hatred and violence against other groups.
He condemned such violence and gave the assurance that his government would act decisively to stop the spread of any such violence.
Meanwhile, Mr. Buhari has appealed for calm and called politicians, religious and traditional leaders not to allow ethnic or religious groups to stoke up hatred and violence against other groups.
Also, the governor of the South-Western Nigerian state of Oyo, Seyi Makinde, has appealed for calm.
Normalcy has since been restored to Shasha community in Ibadan, where traders at the popular market in the area had clashed on Thursday and Friday.
By Hussein Jama
February 15, 2021
