Update: Buhari Warns Agitators, Writes NASS After treatment, To Work From Home | The President

Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari says
he would stop separatist activists spreading unrest in the country.

Mr Buhari said this in his first broadcast to the nation in three months after returning from his second stint of medical
leave in London this year. 

The President said he had been
troubled by social media posts calling for splits of the country. 

Since
Mr Buhari travelled to London for treatment of an unspecified condition on
May 7, campaign groups have stepped up calls for a separate
southeastern state known as Biafra, evoking memories of a conflict there
that killed hundreds of thousands in the 1960s. 

Militants
and community groups have also called for the independence of the
restive southern Niger Delta oil hub, saying it should receive a greater
share of Nigeria’s energy wealth. 

Boko Haram militants are also fighting for a separate caliphate in the northeast. 

The former military ruler’s refusal to disclose details of his illness have prompted calls for greater transparency. 

In
a televised speech, his first since his return on Saturday, the
74-year-old said he followed events in Nigeria on a daily basis. 

“I
was distressed to notice that some of the comments, especially in the
social media have crossed our national red lines by daring to question
our collective existence as a nation,” said Buhari. 

“Nigeria’s
unity is settled and not negotiable. We shall not allow irresponsible
elements to start trouble,” he said, adding that some ethnic violence
was “fuelled by political mischief makers”. 

He
did not mention the recession gripping the oil producer due to low oil
prices, the main issue for many normal people trying to survive amid
inflation of 16 percent. 

Hours later, his spokesman said Buhari had written to lawmakers to notify them of his return to office.

The President first left for medical leave in Britain this year in January, staying
for nearly two months. Both times he handed over power to his vice, Yemi Osinbajo. 

Mr Buhari will
be working from his office at home due to renovation works at his main
office, one of his personal assistants, Bashir Ahmad told reporters. His
home is located in the presidential villa complex. 

“He’ll be back to the main office after the works,” he said. 

After his first return from London, he mostly worked from home on advice of his doctors and did not leave the villa. 

He also travelled to London to see a doctor in June last year over what his officials described as an ear infection. 

Underlining
the divisions simmering during his term in office, the Ijaw Youth
Council, an organisation which represents the largest ethnic group in
the Niger Delta, issued a statement on Monday contradicting the
president, saying Nigeria’s unity was “negotiable” 

“We
call on President Buhari to have a change of approach towards the
resolution of the ongoing agitations and threats to national security by
adopting constructive engagement to resolve the issues,” it said in a
statement. 

Osinbajo held talks in June with
regional leaders in an effort to quell tension after some Northern youths demanded the eviction of Igbo people from the north over their calls for
the creation of a separate Biafra. 

Suicide bomb attacks and raids by the Boko Haram
militants have increased in frequency over the last few months, killing
at least 170 people since June 1, according a Reuters tally.