Presidency blames Buhari booing in Borno on political opponents

 

The Presidency has acknowledged the booing of the President, Muhammadu Buhari, in Borno State on Wednesday. It however blamed the development on opposition politicians.

The presidential motorcade had been booed by some residents as it sped past in a street of the state capital, Maiduguri. But the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, accused unnamed opposition politicians of paying miscreants to boo the presidential motorcade.

Shehu’s reaction was broadcast on the Hausa Service of the BBC, on Thursday.

Some residents of Maiduguri were seen in a video on Wednesday, booing the motorcade of the President, during his condolence visit to the state following the killing of over 30 travellers at Auno, near Maiduguri.

“I was part of the delegation that entered Maiduguri right from the airport to the Palace of the Shehu of Borno. The people came out to say thank you and welcome us.

“But there was a group which came out shouting ‘we don’t want’,” Shehu narrated.

He said, maybe “some politicians gathered some miscreants and paid them money to boo Buhari”.

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The presidential aide said whoever recorded the booing incident and shared it on social media didn’t do justice to the people of Borno State whom he said had a reputation for welcoming guests.

Shehu also said it was not possible to satisfy everyone since no human being was god, especially in a city like Maiduguri which has a population of four to five million people.

He noted that the regime of the President had demonstrated the capacity to fight Boko Haram and he had promised to change strategy in dealing with what he described as a new problem.