State House Shooting: Umar Faults Aisha Buhari’s Alleged Role In Incident

A member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Sanni Umar, has faulted the role of the First Lady, Mrs. Aisha Buhari in the incident that led to the recent shooting at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

Reacting to the incident during his appearance on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Monday, he noted that it was not the duty of the President’s wife to quarantine anyone but that of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).

“If we are talking about the quarantine, we are talking about the NCDC. I don’t know how the wife of Mr. President will become a member of NCDC who will now go to quarantine somebody because the person has travelled to Lagos,” said Umar who was a media adviser to former Vice President Namadi Sambo.

The shooting at the Presidential Villa is said to be a fallout of an incident on Thursday involving the fist lady, some of her children and security aides, as well as a personal assistant to the President.

The President’s aide reportedly returned from Lagos and was said to have been challenged by the President’s wife and others who asked him to proceed on self-isolation for 14 days, to save the President and his family from the danger of COVID-19.

In an attempt to apprehend the President’s assistant, Mrs. Buhari’s aide allegedly released some gunshots, an incident that led to his arrests and other security aides at the scene.

While Mrs. Buhari has called for the release of her security aides in detention, Umar condemned the incident.

As a former resident of the Villa, he noted that there could be gunshots due to external aggression but indiscriminate shootings to raise tension and cause chaos must be condemned.

“I appreciate her (Mrs Buhari’s) concern because the person works with her husband and she doesn’t want her husband to be infected, but there are ways to go about it.

“She can as well request the relevant agencies to take necessary actions to address the matter. But for her to take the issue personally and execute the action is very wrong and it is completely outside the known protocol,” the former PDP presidential campaign spokesperson added.

On his part, the President’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said the police were investigating the incident.

Although he did not speak about the alleged role of the first lady in the incident, Shehu stated that the police were expected to make the outcome of the investigation public.

He also explained the rationale behind the movement of staff of the Presidential Villa from Abuja to other states, stressing that such was done in line with the guidelines of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 and the NCDC.

“They (the police) are the professionals, they know what to look for; they know what to ask and it is up to them,” the President’s aide said.

He added, “He (Buhari) has not placed any restriction on this investigation; he has given them the freedom to go and do their work.

“So, I don’t think it is appropriate for people to make any closures as to what will happen and what will not happen.”