If not for me, Buhari won’t know bandits have vowed to kidnap him: El-Rufai

By Adeleye Kunle

Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna claimed on Wednesday that President Muhammadu Buhari was not aware of bandits’ threats to abduct him.

“This is why I met with the president on Sunday and told him about these problems. I also told him about the video because up to that day, he was not even aware.

“I told him, and the following day, Zamfara State governor Bello Matawalle also confirmed to him that he saw the video too, to take action,” he said on a radio program.

Bandits on Sunday released a video torturing victims of the Abuja-Kaduna train attack and also threatened the abduction of Messrs Buhari and El-Rufai.

The Kaduna governor added during the interview that he was worried about the security situation and “hoped that the federal government will do the right thing.”

Mr El-Rufai’s assertion calls into doubt Mr Buhari’s awareness of the country’s worsening insecurity and the coordination between the presidency and security and intelligence agencies.

Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Idris Wase, had also disclosed that Mr Buhari failed to act on available intelligence reports by the State Security Service before the Kuje correctional facility was attacked by hundreds of Boko Haram members.

“You can imagine what is happening today in Abuja. I will be frank with you. I went through DSS reports. 44 reports were given before the attack on Kuje. I want to say so, I want to confirm to you, 44. I went through all the reports. And it all has to do with this,” Mr Wase said during a plenary session.