 very warm welcome and on behalf of Mr. President, on whose behalf I'm here, at whose instruction also. We condone with the good people of a Boeing state over the killings and also the killings and as a community. Let me begin by saying also that we are very concerned about the fact that these killings, especially the one in the community where innocent people were slaughtered, innocent people, women, children were killed in circumstances which obviously are still being investigated. But we say that these killings must be condemned in the strongest possible time. There's no question at all that there is no excuse for any of these things to happen. No excuse whatsoever. Nobody can defend the killing of innocent people. These were people who had lived in these communities. In fact, they had lived side by side with those who may have been their sellers, those who may have killed them for many, many years. And like you and I, they woke up one morning going out to do their duties and to find a way of making a living for themselves. And they ended up dead before the end of that day. It is a very sad, very terrible, egregious, unacceptable situation. And I want to say that the federal government of Nigeria feels very strongly indeed that these actions, the killings that took place in the Nkalaha, Odiago and Amezu communities are being unacceptable. And we must find all of those who committed these acts. And we must ensure that they are prosecuted. And that justice is ensured for all of those who lost their lives. And of course, members of their families. The truth is that every one of these killings that have taken place all over our country, in different communities and all of that, it is the responsibilities, our responsibility as government to ensure that these things do not take place. And when I say government, I'm not talking just of the federal government or the state government, but also of the local communities, the political leadership in the local communities. But I'm very pleased to say that in the Gede community, the political leaders there, the local community leaders, were able to find some evidence, were able to find some facts which have helped those who presented and which we hope will now be thoroughly investigated by the police and the security agency in order to trace and find some of those who may have committed these terrible acts. But there is a duty that each and every one of us, especially political leaders, that duty is to ensure that we maintain as much as possible the peace in all of the communities where we serve as political leaders. But I'll come to that in a moment. Aside from seeking justice for those who have been killed and for those who have lost their property, we also intend to ensure that we beef up security, especially in those communities. Already more soldiers have been deployed to the three communities and of course more policemen have been deployed. But I have also looked at the situation today, I've also been fully briefed when we visited the community this afternoon. And of course there's a requirement to do more. But in the immediate we need to ensure, in the immediate we need to ensure that belief of some sort is brought there also. And Neema, just as you've heard, and the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management will be mobilized to provide as much relief as is possible in the short term to ensure that those who have been displaced from their homes have an opportunity at least to be sheltered and to be provided for by the state. This is of course only in the short term. One of the agreements that we reached at the National Economic Council, which of course you know is a meeting which we hold every month, which I have the privilege of chairing with all the governors of the states. One of the things that we agreed upon was that when these kinds of incidents occur, both the federal and the state governments must come together to compensate those whose lives and property have been destroyed, where possible to rebuild and rehabilitate, and to give some financial assistance or other assistance to those communities. And we remain committed to the agreements that we made and we'll make sure that as much as possible there is compensation for those who have lost property and families of those who have lost their lives. That is a very important commitment because as I said, it's the duty of government to ensure the protection of citizens. If we don't want people to resort to self-help and violence, then it is the constituted authority who has the legal use of force that must do so and we accept that responsibility and we are doing the very best that is possible to ensure that that responsibility is carried out. Let me say also that just as the representative, the honorable member who spoke a few minutes ago said that people lose patience if they find of the field that government is not doing enough to protect them. But I want to ask that we continue to be as patient as possible. Let us ensure that we do the best we can to support the efforts of the government in ensuring peace and tranquility. All across the country, as you can see, there are various flash points in different places in the country. That means sometimes that the police and the army also have a great deal of difficulty coping with different flash points. Some, such as we've seen in ESA and FEM community, are communal clashes and there are very many here and there, border clashes here and there. All of these have to be the responsibility of the police and security agencies. So there's a need for us to understand some of the challenges as security agencies are, but also to be patient. But I agree with you fully. I agree with all of those who have spoken previously. People are worried, people are concerned, and there's a great deal of pain. Let me say that that pain cannot be assuaged by revenge. It cannot be assuaged by retaliation. If we resort to war, if we resort to a conflict, in this century, there has been no conflict that has ended in this century. None. It starts, but it doesn't end. And the consequences of conflict go on and on and on. Just a couple of days ago, we had a colloquium where we looked at the consequences of conflict across the different parts of Africa. Poverty is increased when there is conflict. The poor suffer even more than anyone else, and the suffering just continues. Where you have economic difficulties is even worse. I want to urge you to ensure that we maintain as much as possible, maintain the peace. And I can assure you of the commitment of the federal government of Nigeria, we're ensuring that we defend all the communities and do everything that is possible to ensure that these kinds of conflicts do not occur again, and that justice is delivered on behalf of all of those who have lost their lives and who have lost their property. Well, let us cooperate, let us work together. Let me also say that the duty of leaders is an honorable duty, is a massive duty. When leaders speak the truth to their people, people criticize them. If a leader talks about unity, when there has been conflict, when people have been killed, people will say it's a coward. They'll say it's a coward. He has sold out, he's not doing the right thing. But that is the burden of leadership. That's the burden of leadership. We must still continue to speak truth to our people. No matter how we slice it, this country is better and stronger together than apart. The only thing is that we must seek justice. We must ensure that everybody is treated fairly, every community is treated fairly, and with equity. And we can do so. We don't need spirits to come down or angels to come down to resolve the problems of this country. We can resolve those conflicts ourselves. And we will do so. What everybody is calling for, what every community, every tribe is calling for, is equity, fairness, justice, that's all. And that is achievable. And I can assure you that we are committed to ensuring that there is equity, there is fairness. Finally, let me reiterate again the commitment of the federal government to ensuring that all of the issues in the various areas, especially here in a joint state, are resolved. Not just the killings that were spoken about, but also the community disputes. Everything that we need to do will do. Employment of troops, employment of police, compensation where that is required, rebuilding where that is required. All of this we undertake to do and will do. I'd like to thank you again and the people of the point of state. This is a state that is set for progress. There is so much that is going on. There is so much that is going on. So much by way of development. We must not, in any way, abort the development that is going on. We must not. We must defend the development. But there is no profit in trouble, no profit in war. There is no profit whatsoever that anyone will derive from conflict and fighting, no profit whatsoever. All that will profit us is peace, security and prosperity. Thank you very much.