The Senator for Zamfara West, Alhaji Abdul-Aziz Abubakar Yari, has assured Nigerians that President Bola Tinubu is not the type of leader who makes empty threats, expressing confidence that the President will pursue those responsible for the recent killings in Yelewata, Benue, and bring them to justice.

In a release on Thursday, Yari, the Senate Committee Chairman on Water Resources, condemned what he described as the “gruesome murder of innocent and harmless citizens.”

He also advocated for a “whole-of-society” approach to combat insecurity.

He described the Benue massacre as devastating, noting that the President has not only shown responsible and responsive leadership by identifying with the people of Benue and visiting the state on Wednesday but “on-the-spot actions” that he took were marks of a hands-on leader”.

“The President is capable of containing the situation, and even if it means adopting totally extreme strategies to give every part of the nation peace, he would do it, because he was elected to secure the nation and the people and this much he understands.

“His (Tinubu’s) decision to suspend everything he was doing and to also keep others on hold is worthy of note. If we understood the responsibilities associated with the office of the president, we would see the empathy in his decision to personally visit Benue.

“He could have delegated a high-powered team to visit and stand in for him while he’d go on with his other commitments. But he decided to show leadership and identify with the people, who showed him love through their votes and also believed in his person and leadership,” the former governor of Zamfara State explained.

The PUNCH reports that on Wednesday, President Tinubu visited persons recovering from last Friday’s attack by armed herders on Yelewata, in Guma Local Government Area of Benue State and held a town hall meeting with stakeholders in the state.

“I can assure the people of Benue and Nigeria in general that those behind this dastardly act will not get away with their mindlessness. Those in charge of security also know the implications of not living up to billing, so no one is kidding here.

“The criminals will be apprehended sooner than we all can ever imagine. The president doesn’t issue an empty threat. He meant what he said and said what he meant. They will not get away with this, and whatever their motive was, we will also unravel soon. But ultimately, this madness has to stop, and it will stop,” Yari mentioned.

He urged the people to also see the security of society as their business and responsibility.

“Together, we can all confront this menace and decimate it. We need the whole-of-society approach to be able to defeat this monster and common enemy. This is the time we all must put on our intelligence garb.

“Everybody – every citizen – must become an intelligence officer for the sake of the sanity of the society. We all must pay attention to happenings around us and give timely and pivotal information to relevant authorities to be able to nip the menace in the bud in good time,” he asserted.