Nigeria’s leader President Muhammadu Buhari received a bitter dose from the masses in Maiduguri on Wednesday.
They came out in large numbers and booed the President as he made his way to the palace of the Shehu of Borno, where he visited to commiserate with the people over the killings in Auno, in Konduga Local Government Area on Sunday.
In videos that went viral on Twitter, residents, including children, were seen expressing in local language strong disapproval as the President’s convoy drove past the state capital.
They were heard chanting, “Bama yi! Bama so! (We don’t want! We are not doing!)”
Others also chanted in Hausa, which literally translated into English means “Buhari, we don’t like you. We don’t want you anymore.”
President Buhari’s plane had on Wednesday, landed in the Borno Capital from Addis Ababa Ethiopia, where he attended the 33rd summit of the African Union.
Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari urged the locals, especially their leaders to desist from giving tacit support to the Boko Haram insurgents. Buhari who said he came to sympathise with the government and people of the state over the Boko Haram insurgents’ attack which claimed many lives at Auno in Konduga Local Government Area, noted that the fight against insurgency could not be achieved without good intelligence and support of the people.
He said: “Boko Haram or whatever they are called, cannot come to Maiduguri or its environs without the local leadership knowing; the local leadership is in charge of security in their own respective areas.
“With my understanding of our culture, I wonder how Boko Haram survives up to this time.
“As the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces; I campaigned in 2015 and last year on three fundamental issues which include security as you cannot preside over an institution or a country if it is not secured.
“We are working for you; as Commander-in-Chief, I am dealing with the security and I believe there is an improvement in security.
“I urge the people of the state to cooperate with the law enforcement agencies; let us deny Boko Haram access to our loyal citizens and encourage displaced people to go back to their land.”