NIGERIANS PROTEST AGAINST BUHARI IN LONDON
NIGERIANS
PROTEST AGAINST BUHARI IN LONDON
President
Muhammadu Buhari signing
A group of Nigerians resident in the UK on Tuesday staged
a protest against President Muhammadu Buhari.
The
protest took place at the Abuja House official residence of the Nigerian
president in London.
The
protest came 24 hours after Mr. Buhari declared his intention to contest for
another term in office as president of Nigeria in 2019.
The
presidency, however, said the protest was sponsored by supporters of alleged
looters and corrupt elements within and outside the country.
A source
in the presidency said those affected by Mr. Buhari’s anti-corruption crusade
were jolted by his decision to seek re-election, “forcing them to push panic
buttons including renting a motley crowd of professional demonstrators to
protest against the President on his arrival into the United Kingdom.”
The source
said “extremely corrupt Nigerians who are custodians of slush funds stolen from
Nigeria, and hiding in UK or are resident cronies of such elements, have
colluded to form a league of protesters with a singular aim of distracting and
disorganising the scheduled state visit of the president to England for
bilateral talks with Prime Minister Theresa May and other dignitaries.”
“Esteemed
Nigerians home and abroad, friends and business investors in Nigeria, should
please see through the veil of the motive behind the Abuja House, Kensington
London demonstration.
“It was an
orchestrated act of desperation and a ploy to blackmail and hoodwink the
President from concentrating on his anti corruption campaign , which is fast
gaining grounds locally and internationally,” the source said.
He said
the protest may also be because of the Nigerian government’s decision to name
and shame corrupt citizens and looters, as well as to collate database of
Nigerians with homes in UK who are not paying the right taxes.
He said
the move by the government to prosecute all financial defaulters through
bilateral and multilateral means is another reason they are coming after Mr.
Buhari.
The government recently released a list of persons, mostly members of the
opposition PDP, who, they said looted the treasury while they were in power.
The list
has been criticised by the PDP and civic groups.
Information
Minister, Lai Mohammed on Monday said another “shocking” list of looters would
be released soon.
The
presidency source told PREMIUM TIMES that security sources had informed the
government that the protesters are determined to embarrass Mr Buhari throughout
his stay in the UK.
He said
they have information that the protesters will take their demonstrations to the
venue of the meeting of Commonwealth Heads of Government (CHOGM), holding on
April 16-17 in Britain.
In
reaction to the protest, Mr Buhari’s spokesperson, Garba Shehu, said the
president “will not be distracted from his mission in the UK.”