The recent shooting incident at the nation’s seat of power which security experts have described as a rare occurrence has further p...
The recent shooting incident at the nation’s seat of power
which security experts have described as a rare occurrence has further
portrayed the Buhari Presidency in bad light, OLALEKAN ADETAYO writes
The serene nature of the Presidential Villa, Abuja cannot be
mistaken for any other expansive compound in the Federal Capital Territory.
Small signposts with inscriptions banning motorists from
honking their horns within the premises are erected in strategic locations.
Whether it is in the morning, afternoon or evening, the silence that pervades
the environment is so pronounced that the sounds of birds, bats and monkeys
among other animals are loud enough for all to hear.
When this silence is suddenly disrupted by feuding parties
shouting on top of their voices in their desperate attempts to make their
points, it becomes easily detected as an unusual happening in the environment
where the President of the most populous black nation resides alongside his
deputy and members of their families.
It becomes more awkward when the gladiators are not
satisfied with verbal attacks and decide to fire gunshots either into the air
or towards those in the opposing camp.
At this point, those
saddled with the responsibility of ensuring the safety of the President and
others will jump up and quickly position themselves for the bloody battle that
may follow.
But what then happens when after mobilising to the
“battlefield” and they suddenly realise that the troublemakers are not
outsiders but the very people that they are being paid to protect?
That was exactly what played out at the seat of power in the
evening of penultimate Thursday when Aisha, the wife of the President, Major
General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) reportedly attempted to force her husband’s
nephew and Personal Assistant, Sabiu Yusuf, to go into self-isolation having
returned from a trip to Lagos which is the epicentre of the dreaded
coronavirus.
Mrs Buhari; her Aide-De-Camp, Usman Shugaba; and other
security aides were said to have stormed Yusuf’s official residence inside one
of the guest houses inside the Presidential Villa called House 8. Their mission
was to evict the young man whose residence is a short distance from the
official residence of the President.
They however met a resistance from Yusuf who saw no reason
why he should be forced into self-isolation. Reports said there was exchange of
abusive words. As the situation got rowdy, one of the security details of Mrs
Buhari reportedly fired gunshots that forced Yusuf to take to his heels.
Report of the incident got to the Inspector-General of
Police, Mohammed Adamu, who quickly ordered the arrest of all the security men
that joined Mrs Buhari to invade Yusuf’s residence.
Playing the victim, the President’s wife took to her social
media platforms the following day to publicly ask the IGP, her husband’s
appointee, to quickly release her security aides. In her post, she also called
on relevant government agencies to enforce the law on interstate travels and
self-isolation.
Although she did not mention any name, she was clearly
setting up the relevant government agencies against Yusuf.
She wrote, “That COVID-19 is real and still very much around
in our nation is not in doubt. Consequently, I call on all relevant government
agencies to enforce the Quarantine Act signed by Mr President and ensure no one
is found violating this law and the NCDC guidelines especially on interstate
travel without the necessary exemptions for movement of essentials. Anyone who
does that should at the very least be made to undergo a 14 day mandatory
isolation no matter who the person is, no one should be above the law and the
police command will do well to remember that. Finally, I call on the IGP to
release my assigned staff (members) who are still in the custody of the police
in order to avoid putting their lives in danger or exposure to COVID-19 while
in their custody.”
Not a few people hold the belief that the latest development
was a continuation of Mrs Buhari’s desperate efforts to assert and liberate
herself from the strong forces surrounding the President which have come to be
popularly known members of the Presidency cabal.
She had in the past come out strong against those people who
she believes have the President’s ears against the wishes of Nigerians but many
would have thought that the death of Buhari’s former Chief of Staff, Abba
Kyari, in April due to COVID-19 complications would have ended that era.
Not too long ago, Mrs Buhari granted an interview to the
Hausa Service of the British Broadcasting Corporation, in which she accused
Fatima, the daughter of her husband’s nephew, Mamman Daura, of laughing at her
in a video that went viral after Buhari reportedly asked Daura and his family
to vacate the Glass House, an extension of the President’s residence, for his
son, Yusuf.
Daura is believed to be the leader of the group known as the
cabal. He had been occupying the building within the precinct of the
President’s residence with his family, in spite of the fact that he is not
known to be holding any public office.
Mrs Buhari had said in the interview, “I was the one in the
video. Those people behind me were the security personnel assigned to protect
me. But Mamman Daura’s daughter, Fatima, shot the video in the presence of
security officials and everybody. She was laughing at me because my husband
said they should vacate the place (Glass House) for my son. I wanted to pass
through that door to go into a store, but they had locked the door. I took an alternative route only to discover
that the door was also locked.”
Fatima also granted the same medium a separate interview,
admitting that she recorded the video that went viral to provide proof for her
parents and security officials about Mrs Buhari’s outburst during the
encounter.
She said, “Her (Mrs Buhari’s) comments frightened me. She
was hurling insults and shouting that she had never seen anything like it. I
went back and took my (mobile) phone because if you went and said she acted the
way she did, nobody would believe you (without evidence).
“She was making a lot
of noise, saying she was being oppressed. I filmed the encounter to show our
parents and security officials, in case something happens. From the way she was
screaming, I even thought she would pick up something to hit us or something
like that.”
That Mrs Buhari has been in the news since 2015 with her
utterances and actions is not in doubt. Most, if not all, of the utterances are
indicative of a cracked Presidency and a President’s wife that is desperately
fighting for a space to operate.
Recall that in her 2016 interview with the BBC, she
threatened to withdraw her support for the President at the 2019 general
elections unless he made an effort to shake up his cabinet.
At the time, she claimed her husband did not know most of
the top government officials he had appointed.
She said, “The President does not know 45 out of 50 of the
people he appointed. I don’t know them either, despite being his wife of 27
years. Some people are sitting down in their homes and folding their arms only
to be invited to head a government agency or take up a ministerial job.”
Just like the way she did in her latest tweet without
mentioning Yusuf’s name, she did not name those who she claimed took over the
government in the interview.
Of course, observers of event still looked in the direction
of Daura and Kyari at the time.
Those who thought she must have been prevailed upon to stop
washing the Presidency’s proverbial dirty linen outside were surprised when
after many months, the President’s wife again justified her statement, saying
it was based on her sense of justice.
She said the statement was not meant to be confrontational
or a sign of disrespect.
In a message she sent to the 2017 Vanguard Awards where she
was honoured as the Vanguard Personality of the Year 2017, Mrs Buhari said she
was brought up to stand by the truth and that was how she had been living her
life.
She explained that since Nigerians elected her husband,
based on the trust and confidence they had in him, she felt the administration
should serve the country to the best of its ability.
The President’s wife said, “One of the reasons adduced for
honouring me was the interview I granted, which some people saw as criticism of
a government that I am part of.
“I need to state that
my position was a reflection of my sense of justice. It was not meant to
confront or disrespect the government. I was brought up to stand by the truth
and this is how I have always been.
“As we are all aware,
Nigerians elected this administration based on trust and the confidence they
have in my husband. Therefore, I feel that we are here to serve Nigeria to the
best of our ability.
“Let me use this
opportunity to state that I support my husband in this call to service and will
continue to do so.”
In all these, it appears that the desire of the Adamawa
State-born Mrs Buhari is to have absolute control of her area and she has
indicated several times that this is not negotiable.
Meanwhile, the President has ordered the redeployment of
about 20 presidential bodyguards over the shooting incident at the State House.
The personnel, from the DSS and the National Intelligence
Agency, were withdrawn from the Presidential Villa over their failure to manage
the situation, which led to the firing of gunshots within the Villa penultimate
Thursday.
They are expected to be replaced with new ones immediately.
What then have her actions and utterances portrayed about
the Buhari Presidency?
A former Director of the Department of State Service, Mike
Ejiofor, in an interview with our correspondent, attributed the latest incident
in the seat of power to what he described as a “struggle for power and
personalisation.”
Describing the incident as very embarrassing, Ejiofor said
he had never witnessed such a scenario throughout his career as a DSS official.
“The incident was
very unfortunate. In my career, I have never seen such incident of shooting in
the seat of power except during a coup. This incident really raised a serious
concern. The Presidency has said it is investigating the matter, we will wait
to see what will be done but it was very embarrassing,” he said.
A serving DSS official who spoke on condition of anonymity,
however, blamed Mrs Buhari’s security details for the way the incident turned
out.
The official who worked in the Presidential Villa for years
before he was redeployed in 2015 said, “When incompetence becomes the order of
the day, you will witness more of such incident. It is the sole responsibility
of the DSS to protect the President. Other security agencies are supportive:
they play the roles of crowd and vehicle controls and the likes.
“But now, the police and the military are in the forefront
whereas they are not trained on evacuation of VIPs. They cannot handle
manoeuvrings. Indeed, there are problems with Nigeria.”
A Senior Research Fellow in the Institute for Peace and
Conflict Resolution, Abuja, Dr Olalekan Babatunde, is also of the view that
security aides should always exercise restraints in handling their assignments.
“Such incident can be
prevented in the future if the police and other security aides adhere strictly
to their professional ethics and best practices. Without provocations and
threat to lives, VIPs’ aides should always exercise restraints in accordance to
the dictates of their work. All lives
matter,” he added.
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