'WE DON'T WANT YOU,' MAIDUGURI RESIDENTS BOO BUHARI FOLLOWING RECURRENT BOKO HARAM ATTACKS

Angry Maiduguri Residents Boo Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari was booed by a large crowd of Borno residents, on Wednesday, as his convoy drove from the Maiduguri International Airport to the centre of the city. The President, upon returning from a five-day trip to Ethiopia for an African Union summit, paid a condolence visit to the North-Eastern state, following a Boko Haram attack on Sunday.

As his convoy moved to the city, he was booed by residents, who lined up along the airport road. The people, who have shown dissatisfaction with the increased Boko Haram attacks in the state, lined up along the airport road and shouted in Hausa Bama so! Bamayi!, meaning “We don’t want,” “we’re not interested.” This was markedly different from the warm reception Buhari received from residents of the state, during previous visits.

Roads leading to Maiduguri have witnessed sustained attacks by insurgents in recent times. On Sunday, no fewer than 30 travellers, including children and women,were burnt to death by insurgents, who invaded Auno, a village 20 kilometres to Maiduguri. The travellers had failed to meet up with the 5 pm deadline when the military usually shut the Maiduguri gate.

On January 18, one soldier and four Boko Haram terrorists were killed during an attack on an aid facility in the Ngala area of the state, where at least 20 internally displaced persons whowaiting for assistance at the facility were killed. On January 20 as well, many residents were abducted in two confrontations between the military and Boko Haram insurgents on the Bama-Gwoza highway. A day after, eight soldiers were reportedly killed during a battle with the Boko Haram insurgents in Kaga, Borno. The insurgents had disguised and moved in a police vehicle towards a military base, before opening fire on unsuspecting soldiers near their trench.

Buhari, in an op-ed in a United States-based magazine, Christianity Today, had last week stated that since he assumed office in 2015, the insurgents had been weakened by the armed forces.

The President’s comment came on the heels of criticisms by prominent Nigerians and groups, including the Christian Association of Nigeria and the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, who expressed concern about increasing insecurity in the country.

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According to residents of Maiduguri, the people of the state are fed up with the President’s failure to restore peace to the state after five years in government. A resident, Abba Yusuph said, “The President was elected and equally re-elected on the grounds of providing security and pushing Boko Haram out, up till now that has never been done. We asked for the change of the service chiefs, the President did not accede and we are locked inside Maiduguri as if we are prisoners.

“We cannot travel outside the town without fear. We just have to pray that we are not killed on the road while the insurgents keep moving closer on Maiduguri. There is hardly any family that has not lost a loved one.”

Buhari, at the Palace of Shehu of Borno, Alhaji Abubakar El-Kanemi, encouraged the residents of the state to cooperate with the military to win the war against the insurgents.

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In his address to the traditional rulers and other prominent Borno indigenes at the palace, he said, “The cooperation of your people with our troops and other security agencies by providing credible information could end insurgency not only in Borno but other states of Yobe and Adamawa.”

The state Governor, Babagana Zulum, had urged him to deploy troops in Boko Haram hideouts in Sambisa Forest and Lake Chad region. According to Zulum, the insurgents launched their attacks from their hideouts in the forest and Lake Chad, as well as some of the caves at the Mandara Mountains in the Gwoza Local Government Area.

The Shehu of Borno, Alhaji El-Kanemi, also pleaded with the President to help the people of Borno State more in the area of security to ward off the threat of the Boko Haram.