AFTERMATH OF BOMB ATTACK: Nigeria can defeat Boko Haram, says Buhari
A former military Head of State and a
chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari
(retd.), insisted on Thursday that Nigeria had the capacity to defeat
the dreaded Boko Haram Islamic sect.
Buhari also noted that the sect’s
activities should not be linked to Islam as being done in some quarters,
adding that the sect could not have claimed to be fighting a religious
cause when, they killed innocent people and destroyed worship places.
He said the earlier the Federal Government realize that the Boko Haram activities were not religious but terrorism, the better.
Buhari, who stated this while receiving
the Kaduna State Governor, Mukhtar Yero, on a sympathy visit to him,
said the sect could be crushed with the same zeal the 30-month old civil
war that claimed over one million Nigerians was fought.
Buhari said, “When this question of Boko
Haram started I’m sure it was on record that the first statement I made
about 18 months ago was that no religion advocates what is happening. So
basically it is not the case of religion or ethnicity when they kill
children in schools in the North-East; they kill teachers; they burn
churches , they burn mosques, they burn motor parks , they burn markets.
“Where is religion there? Where is
ethnicity there? This is terrorism and I hope the government will come
to grip with it. Nigeria is capable of dealing with this. We dealt with
the civil war for 30 months we fought and we kept Nigeria one and God’s
willing we are going to keep Nigeria one.”
Buhari, while commiserating with the
families of those that died in the blast, said, “When I came out of the
car there was blood on my dress I did not know how it came about because
I did not have a scratch on my body but there were dead bodies all over
the place. The security tried to move me to the other side and we just
got one of the vehicles passing by and they brought me home.”
“I hope the law enforcement agencies and
the chief executives of the states will succeed in securing the country.
May God help us.” Meanwhile, Buhari said that he did not know the
motive behind the attempt to assassinate him in the Wednesday blast that
left scores of people dead.
Buhari noted that those who planned to
eliminate him neither called him nor wrote him a letter to threaten his
life before the foiled attempt on his life last Wednesday.
The former Nigerian leader, who spoke in an interview with the Hausa Service of the Voice of America monitored in Kaduna on Thursday, regretted the death of innocent people who were at the scenes of the twin blasts.
He said, “We were on our way then a car
suddenly started to trail us and was trying to get close to my vehicle
but the vehicle following mine did not allow that. When we reached Kawo,
near the market, he had to wait for other vehicles coming from the
other end. It was the right side of the market on the left side is the
road coming into Kaduna before the overhead bridge.
“From the right side, they detonated the
bomb but Allah saved us. The three vehicles on my convoy were affected. I
came out unhurt but I saw many people on the ground, some were dead
while others were seriously injured. My aides were injured but they were
treated and discharged.
“Nobody had written me or called to threaten me. The incidence took me by surprise.”
Source: The Punch