Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari, Wednesday night revealed why his administration has repeatedly refused to release Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader Nnamdi Kanu and former National Security Adviser (NSA), Col Sambo Dasuki, or allow them to go home upon meeting their bail conditions.
During the Presidential Media Chat, Buhari was asked why the Department of State Services (DSS) has repeatedly disobeyed court orders on the two detained men. Buhari replied: “If you see the kind of atrocities these people committed – I’m sorry to say that . . .”
On Kanu, the Nigerian leader suggested that he may jump bail, asking: “Do you know he has two passports? – One British and one Nigerian? Should he be given bail to go away?”
In the case of Dasuki, Buhari said that he misappropriated Boko Haram war funds. He wondered why the man should be allowed to travel abroad for medicals in the circumstances.
One of the journalists on the programme asked Buhari if he is not worried about the agitation for Biafra. His reply: “It should worry me when I have militants, I have Boko Haram, and another group is coming with Biafra.”
The President then dismissed the complaints of the agitators, saying: “They say they (Igbos) are marginalised but they cannot say how they are marginalised. Who is marginalising them? Who is the Governor of the Central Bank? Is he not Igbo? Who are the Ministers of Petroleum, Science and Technology, Labour and Employment? Are they not Igbo? …So what do they want?”
On the recent military crackdown on Shiites in Zaria, Kaduna State, the President said they had for 20 years engaged in unacceptable excesses. He said he was waiting for the reports of enquiries into the incident.
He confessed that he has no idea if the Chibok girls, whom he promised to rescue if elected President, are still alive and where they are.
Asked if he would consider a ban on hijab in view of the increasing cases of use of female suicide bombers by Boko Haram, the President lamented that the use of metal detectors has failed to check the trend. “Hijab will have to be banned if this continues,” he stated.
The president was full of despair on the economy. “We’re in very, very bad shape,” he said. “We’re very, very stretched economically.” He blamed the problem on “insecurity and downtime in the oil industry,” advising that Nigerians should be their brothers’ keepers.