Buhari denies reports of fanning Muslim-Christian splits
Nigerian President Mohammadu Buhari (right) signs visitor's register while Minister of State for Aviation Hadi Sirika (left) and Transport Minister Rotimi Amaechi watch during a ceremony to flag-off commercial train services on the country's first ever standard gauge rail track linking the capital Abuja with the northern city of Kaduna, on July 26, 2016. Buhari has denied reports of fanning Muslim-Christian splits. PHOTO | AFP
What you need to know:
- President Buhari had been treating all Nigerians equally irrespective of their religious or geo-political backgrounds, Mr Shehu said.
- According to Mr Shehu, the Nigerian government is in no position to divert aid monies used for emergency relief for refugees or IDP camps for any other purpose.
LAGOS, Tuesday
The Nigerian presidency on Tuesday dismissed an article by the London-based Telegraph which claimed that President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration is targeting Christians and the opposition.
Presidential spokesperson Garba Shehu, in a statement issued in Abuja, described it as untrue and without foundation.
President Buhari had been treating all Nigerians equally irrespective of their religious or geo-political backgrounds, Mr Shehu said.
“To suggest his government is deepening Muslim-Christian division is not only untrue, but plays into the hands of Boko Haram who wish to divide Nigerians along religious lines,” he added.
He said fighting this group is key priority of President Buhari’s Administration. “Indeed the international community has widely acknowledged his determination to defeat terrorism in Nigeria and the entire Lake Chad Basin,” he added.
DEATH BY STARVATION
The spokesperson also described as untrue the London Telegraph’s article “Children Face Death by Starvation in Northern Nigeria” published on July 30, saying that this is as incorrect as it is unhelpful.
According to Mr Shehu, the Nigerian government is in no position to divert aid monies used for emergency relief for refugees or IDP camps for any other purpose.
Mr Shehu said the government was doing everything within its limited resources to address the medical, health and nutritional challenges in the IDPs, as the humanitarian situation in these camps is real.
The spokesperson, however, invited The Telegraph to visit Nigeria to witness first hand not only the challenges the country faces, but the administration’s determination to confront them.
