Soldiers killed while service
chiefs were attending Buhari’s
second term declaration –
Atiku

Published November 26, 2018

Olalekan Adetayo , Abuja

The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic
Party , Alhaji Atiku Abubakar , on Monday, regretted
that soldiers were killed on the day the nation’ s
service chiefs were attending the inauguration of
President Muhammadu Buhari ’s re- election
campaign , “ Next Level. ”

He said it was possible that the killing could have
been avoided if the service chiefs had been allowed
to concentrate on their jobs.

This was contained in a statement made available to
journalists in Abuja by the Atiku Presidential
Campaign Organisation.

The organisation recalled that Atiku had asked his
friends and associates to present the gifts they would
have given him on his birthday to the families of the
slain soldiers .

It said it was therefore wrong for the All Progressives
Congress to cast aspersions on the presidential
candidate on the day of his birthday and turbaning
as Waziri Adamawa .

It said the APC ’s statement which accused the former
Vice President Atiku Abubakar of “ selfishness and
mercantilism ” was curious as Atiku dedicated his
birthday , not to himself, but to celebrating the 100 or
so heroes of the 157 Taskforce Battalion of the
Nigerian Army who lost their lives to Boko Haram at
Metele in Borno State .

It added that the fact that Atiku asked for anyone
who wished to give him birthday gifts to instead
endow such on the families of the slain heroes is the
opposite of selfishness .

The statement read , “ Ironically , the All Progressives
Congress that is now accusing Atiku Abubakar , has
not deemed it fit to pay tribute to these gallant men
who gave their lives in order to secure the lives of
others .

“ As a party , they have not issued even one statement
condoling with the slain or their families, neither
have they offered any tangible support to the families
of these fallen heroes . Yet , they are accusing the
Waziri , who has shown commitment to honouring
these heroes , of selfishness .

“ As a matter of fact, we now know through Reuters
report , that these real Nigerian heroes were killed on
November 18 , 2018 , which was the exact time that
the candidate of the APC , Muhammadu Buhari ,
invited the service chiefs to attend the launch of the
plagiarised # NextLevel launch at the banquet hall of
the Presidential Villa .

“ The nation can only wonder if the Metele massacre
could have been avoided if the APC and President
Buhari had allowed the service chiefs to focus on
their core duties , rather than on his ill -fated re-
election campaign. ”

The organisation commended the service chiefs “ for
beating a hasty retreat from the event as soon as
they discovered that President Buhari was trying to
hoodwink them . ”

It said while it took Atiku only a few hours to
respond to the incident and express support , it took
Buhari a week to express “ shock ” .
It added , “ We , therefore, wonder who is truly
‘selfish ’.

“ It is left to Nigerians to compare and contrast who
is a leader and who is a follower based on the
conduct of these two parties .

“ In any case , we would like to inform the APC of
Waziri Atiku Abubakar ’ s call for financial support
from well-meaning individuals and institutions for
the survivors of the Metele massacre , and indeed for
all who paid the supreme sacrifice in the frontlines
for us to be safe . ”