Malik Yahya/
The Presidency has claimed the large number of residents who booed President Muhammadu Buhari during his sympathy visit to Maiduguri, Borno State yesterday, were rented by opposition politicians to embarrass the government.
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, made the allegation in an interview with the Hausa Service of the BBC, yesterday.
Social media videos show residents of Maiduguri lining up both sides of the Airport Road in Maiduguri to boo the President’s motorcade as it drive past after his visit.
Buhari had visited the state to commiserate with the government and people over the killing of over 30 travellers at Auno, about 24 kilometres from Maiduguri, by Boko Haram terrorists on Sunday.
Shehu said, “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’.”
He added, “Maybe some politicians gathered some miscreants and paid them money to boo Buhari”.
He further stated that 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 assured that the current administration has the capacity to defeat Boko Haram, adding that the President had promised to change strategy in dealing with what he described as a new problem.
See video of yesterday’s incident: