Buhari Insists Nigeria Can Defeat Boko Haram
Following the twin bomb explosion which hit Kaduna state on Wednesday, July 23, which was reportedly targeted a Former Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), and an Islamic cleric, Sheikh Dahiru Bauchi, which left about 82 persons dead, Buhari has reacted to the assassination attack.
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, Buhari, who escaped unhurt, said yesterday that how he survived the bomb attack on his convoy remains a mystery.
Buhari said that he was shocked at the assassination attempt on his life, as he did not receive any threatening message or letter prior to the bomb attack.
Buhari, while speaking in an interview with the Hausa Service of the Voice of America monitored in Kaduna on Thursday, recounted what happened saying:
He said: “We were on our way then a car suddenly started to trail us and was trying to get close to my vehicle but the vehicle following mine did not allow that. When we reached Kawo, near the market, he had to wait for other vehicles coming from the other end. It was the right side of the market on the left side is the road coming into Kaduna before the overhead bridge.
RELATED: Scenes Of Kaduna Bomb Blast
“From the right side, they detonated the bomb but Allah saved us. The three vehicles on my convoy were affected. I came out unhurt but I saw many people on the ground, some were dead while others were seriously injured. My aides were injured but they were treated and discharged.
“Nobody had written me or called to threaten me. The incidence took me by surprise.”
Meanwhile, Buhari, while receiving the Kaduna State Governor, Mukhtar Yero, on a sympathy visit to him at his Sultan Close residence in Kaduna, insisted Nigeria had the capacity to defeat the dreaded Boko Haram Islamist sect.
“When this question of Boko Haram started, and I am sure it is on record, in the first statement I made about 18 months ago, I said no religion advocates what is happening in the North East. So the case of this kind of killings is not religion; it is also not ethnic.
"When they kill children in schools in the North East, they kill teachers, they burn churches, they burn mosques, they burn motor parks, they burn markets — where is religion there? Where is ethnicity there? This is terrorism and I hope the government will come to grips with it. Nigeria is capable of dealing with this. Some of us died in the civil war for this country. For 30 months we fought and we kept Nigeria one and, God willing, we are going to keep Nigeria one.
“I commiserate with the families of those that died, because this thing was ignited at exactly when my car was almost side by side with that of the bomber. I came out of the car after the bomb went off. There was blood on my dress. I did not know how it came about because I did not have a scratch myself, but there were dead bodies all over the place.
"The security tried to move me to the other side and we just got one of the vehicles passing and they brought me home. I hope the law enforcement agencies and the chief executives of the states will succeed in securing the country. May God help us”, he said.
RELATED: Kaduna Explosions: How I Escaped Death – Sheikh Dahiru Bauchi
The 24-hour curfew imposed on Kaduna following the bomb attacks was yesterday lifted by Governor Mukhtar Yero of Kaduna State.
Meanwhile President Jonathan thanked God for sparing Buhari's life and condemned the attack.
Buhari's wife also expressed shock over the assasination attempt on her husband.
Meanwhile, prominent Nigerian politicians, the likes of former military president, General Ibrahim Babangida, former Vice-President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, former FCT Minister, El-Rufai, and the ruling party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), have condemned the assassination attempt on Buhari.
Former Niger-Delta Militant Alhaji Mujahid Asari Dokubo has, however, described the Kaduna attack as a plot to cause calamity in Nigeria and push the military to take over from the President Goodluck Jonathan while stating there'll be more attacks.
Source: Legit.ng
