Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Wednesday knocked President Muhammadu Buhari for treating the killings by herdsmen and the general insecurity in the country with kid gloves.

Obasanjo, while paying a condolence visit to the Plateau State Governor, Simon Lalong said the magnitude of the security challenges confronting the country under Buhari’s watch was daunting when compared to what obtained during his tenure.

Obasanjo challenged the Federal and state governments to identify the root causes of insecurity and herdsmen killings and deal with them so that Nigerians would get a reprieve from the incessant violence across the country.

“Even in my time, we had problems but not in this magnitude. We thought we were dealing with them as of that time but the earlier we deal with it, the better. I believe we can find solutions, we must find solutions,” Obasanjo said.

While extending his heart-felt condolences to the bereaved families, Obasanjo expressed optimism that solutions could be found to address the challenges in due course.

He added: “I’m here to express my condolences. What happened is very sad that in this day and age, this type of barbaric act is taking place in our country. I have suggested and I will say it again that we should find out the root cause of this problem and deal with it.

“There must be the remote and immediate cause. If we deal with it, we are not going to be multiplying condolence visits. I believe that any human problem has human solutions.

“I do hope and plead with the government at the federal level, those of you in states and even local government level, to join hands even at the community level to find the causes and deal with them permanently. We offer our condolences to the bereaved families, all we can say is that God knows the best.”

Responding, Governor Lalong thanked Obasanjo for the visit, noting that insecurity was not new to him hence he had thought he could handle it without problems.

“When we came in, we quickly put up a team including Berom and Fulani. They came out with a road map to proffer solutions, we adopted the recommendations and have implemented some and was in the process of implementing the remaining ones. We have done our best, we have learnt our lessons. We will be very firm,” Lalong added.