Presidency happy with voices speaking against secession – Garba Shehu

The Senior Special Assistant to Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Mr Garba Shehu the presidency is happy that some major socio-cultural group in Nigeria are speaking up against secession of the country.

He said this at an interactive session organised by the All Progressives Congress, APC Professional Forum to showcase the achievements of President Buhari’s administration which held at the APC National Secretariat in Abuja.

Mr Shehu noted that those calling for the division of Nigeria are the cause of the country’s problem.

He added that President Buhari will not be intimidated by the call for secession by some persons, pointing out that the country would remain united no matter what.

“For those saying that the presidency has not been talking, our position is clearly that this country is one and will remain united by the grace of God.

“You can’t intimidate Buhari, you can’t bully him, a lot of these people who are calling for secession are the problem of this country, I’m happy that reasonable opinion is now being, reasonable voices are now rising. Is it not only yesterday we are reading Afenifere, the most credible faction of Afenifere saying we’re not for secession? 

“You create secession and break up Nigeria and then you intimidate the sitting leader and then he opens the booth and he brings money to settle people. President Buhari will pay no one.

“The Governors in the southwest, we have all heard them, they have denounced all of these things. So it’s a sham, Nigerians want to be one, they want to continue,” Shehu said.

National Conference

Speaking on the call for a National Conference to address the country’s challenges, the Presidential Spokesman said that there was no need for such as it would not do more than an elected parliament mandated to ensure the sovereignty of Nigerians.

Kidnappings and Banditry

On the spate of kidnappings and banditry in the country, Mr Shehu while noting that it was condemnable development, however, said the act has been on for long and that Nigeria is not the only country experiencing such crime.

Also Read: Clergy urges secessionists to jettison disunity campaigns

While also noting that the deaths recorded in the country are tragic, he pointed out that no country in the world today is crime-free.

“When the question was raised, I was going through my WhatsApp message and interesting conversation recently was around the publication of a New Nigerian newspaper Tuesday, November 16, 1966, and on the front page of this Newspaper There is a story saying: “Midwest police rescue 10 kidnapped men”. If you open the press today and some people are reporting kidnapping you will think that this is the first time in the country.

“I’m not saying it is welcome, please I shouldn’t be misunderstood. Even in the United States of America, two days ago people were shot and killed, eight of them for no reason,” he said.

Unauthorized Weapons

Mr Shehu noted that part of the problem fueling insecurity in the country is the infiltration of weapons into the country as well as some bad eggs in communities that reveal military secrets.

“So, we have problems with infiltration of unauthorized weapons. This is why President Buhari ordered that anyone caught with AK-47 that is not a law enforcement agent, is not authorized, that person should be shot immediately, don’t surrender that weapon,” Shehu said.

He blamed the proliferation of such weapons on the crises in the Sahel and Libya, which has led to the recruitment of people from Nigeria and other distant places into terrorism

“So it’s a big challenge, let us cooperate with law enforcement agencies in the country to curtail these things.

“We also have bad eggs in our communities who reveal the secrets of our military, they had this one in Katsina state before, A tea seller near the airport where they move the aircraft from Katsina Airport to operate against the bandits in Zamfara State.

“This man that sold tea near the airport; the sponsors of bandits hired him, built a house for him, bought him a golf car and gave him money to do bigger tea business.

“Each time an aircraft took off from Katsina Airport to go and operate in Zamfara, he will call them on phone and say they are coming by the time they get there; the target has disappeared.

“So, there are bad people in our communities. What are we doing as citizens to rid ourselves of informants because the military people are as human as we are they have blood running in their veins,” Shehu said.

He said all the military needs to combat terrorism and acts of banditry in the country is time, support and prayers from Nigerians.

 

Zainab Sa’id