Mr Garba Shehu, Presidential spokesman, has accused  some politicians  of masterminding the booing of President Muhammadu Buhari during his visit to Borno State  on Wednesday. 

Mr Buhari was booed by residents during a condolence visit to the state over the killing of 30 citizens at Auno on Sunday.

In an interview with the Hausa service of BBC, in Abuja, yesterday, Shehu said only miscreants protested against the president’s visit.

“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,” Shehu said.

“But there was a group which came out shouting ‘we don’t want’.

“Some politicians gathered some miscreants and paid  them money to boo Buhari.”

The presidential spokesman  said the administration has the capacity to fight the insurgents.

During the visit, Mr Babagana Zulum, governor of the state, told the president that the military needed to change its strategy in the fight against Boko Haram.

He said the military needs to take the war to the insurgents in their hideouts.

Meanwhile, former governor of Borno State, Mr Ibrahim Shettima has said President Buhari did not deserve the treatment that residents if his state  metted out on him.

“The action of the protesters was unfortunate. Although we have challenges, but no matter how long the night is, the dawn would definitely come.

No matter the stormy the weather might be, it won’t be there for ever. Certainly we have crisis but we are going to bounce back as a people.

“The people of Borno loves Buhari. Maybe their expectations were exaggerated but the people thought he has a magic wand but he doesn’t have one. I believe it’s a temporary hiccup,” he said.

Asked to react to Buhari’s allegation that the lack of cooperation of the Borno elite was fueling the insurgency war, Shettima said, “without the cooperation of the people of Borno, civilian JTF would not have been possible.”

“The people and government of Borno are fully behind the president, they are fully in support of the military establishment, whose personnel have lost lives while serving their nation.

“The remarks (that Buhari blames the Borno leaders) did  not come from an authorized source. So, I doubt if the president actually said so.

He must have made a general statement on the need for the people to align with the aspirations to restore peace in the North East.”, he said.

Sun