About 16 months after the 2015
Presidential elections, bodyguards of President Muhammadu Buhari who
participated during the campaigns on Thursday protested against their
“exclusion” by those they described “cabals in the government.”
They said the only reward they got for
their efforts during the campaigns was the N20,000 paid to them in
January and February 2015.
They alleged that “some cabals have
hijacked the President”, adding that many of the key actors in Buhari’s
government, who did not work for him, have denied them access to him.
Speaking at a press briefing addressed
by their spokesperson, Badiru Olabiyi Balogun and three other members,
Audu Odemeho, Kasim Abdullahi Hassan and Zubairu Idris, the group warned
that their marginalisation constitutes security threat to the nation.
“Right
now, we need Mr. President to appreciate our hard work for him. We need
Mr. President to recognise the fact that we have lost everything
because we championed the change agenda.
“Definitely, it is not just our exclusion that is a security threat to the country. Anything
that would deny any man his dues and legitimate rights can be concluded
to mean a security threat because when you don’t get your dues and what
is rightly due for you, then you are opened to a lot of temptations.
So, we are indeed a security threat”, Balogun stated.
Members of the Presidential Bodyguards
which they put at over 100 personnel, were said to have been drawn from
security and protocol departments and Buhari Support Organisation.
“During the electioneering campaign, we
served the current President, Muhammadu Buhari as his personal
bodyguards. That was who we were and that is what we are till now. One
would have expected that having worked hard tirelessly and relentlessly
for the President to assume the office he had desired all these years,
the people that were in the forefront deserved to be recognised,
compensated and remunerated, considering the volume of work and gravity
of the sacrifices we had to make.
“We had to abandon things that were so
dear to us, including our families and the things we were doing before
because all of us needed change. We believed that we had all it takes.
And now, having done all that we did, nobody has recognised our efforts.
All through the 15 months and 90 days of the campaign, not a dime was
given to us”, Balogun stated.
Zubairu Idris told journalists that
recently, when he went to the Mosque in Aso Rock to worship, the
President was elated and exclaimed: “Zubairu (Idris), where have you
been? I’ve been looking for you.”
He was thereafter warned to steer clear and never come back to the mosque again for prayer.
“One of the President’s aide warned me
never to near or enter the mosque again for worship. He specifically
told me to go and worship Allah in another mosque and not the one in Aso
Villa because God is everywhere”.
Among Buhari’s aides who were alleged to
have denied them access to the President include the Secretary to the
Government of the Federation, Babachir David Lawal; Chief of Staff to
the President, Abba Kyari; Comptroller-General of Customs, Col. Ahmed
Ali (retd) and Director-General of Department of State Services, Lawan
Daura.
Others are the Special Assistant to the
President on Domestic Matters Sariki Abba; Special Assistant to the
President on Special Duties, Yau Darazzo and the President’s family
member, Mamman Daura.
0 comments:
Post a Comment
PLEASE BE POLITE