Contrary
to claims by the Presidency, President Muhammadu Buhari failed to attend
Thursday’s South East economic summit because of security reports indicating
the likelihood of violence by Biafra agitators.
Mr. Buhari was expected
to be the special guest of honour at the regional summit which held in Enugu
state.
The event was put
together by some prominent citizens from the region, including former
Commonwealth Secretary General, Emeka Anyaoku.
Mr. Buhari neither
attended the event nor sent a representative.
There were speculations
that the absence of the president was due to a threat issued by the separatist
Biafra group.
The Indigenous People
of Biafra has been campaigning for the independence of the people of the
south-east, majority of whom are of Igbo extraction.
The leader of the
group, Nnamdi Kanu, has been in government custody since he was first arrested
by the State Security Service, SSS, in October 2015.
Members of the group
have repeatedly clashed with the Nigeria’s security agencies.
After
media reports suggested that Mr. Buhari stayed away from the event for fear of
his safety, his spokesperson, Garba Shehu, issued a statement saying the
president did not boycott the event.
He claimed the president
was advised by some representatives of the south-east not to attend, given “the
sensitivity of the (Christmas) period to the people”.
A presidential visit
may have come with overexertion and possibly, be disruptive of Christmas, he
said.
However,
one of the organisers of the event told Premium Times that Mr. Buhari was
advised against attending the event due to security concerns.
“Almost all the
security agencies provided intel that there might be violence if the President
attends the summit,” our source said.
He said IPOB members
were serious about their threat to attack the summit if the president attended.
“Of course nothing
would have happened to the president but the fear is that several persons may
lose their lives in the bid to atop anyone from harming the president.
“It was therefore,
rightly agreed that it was better to avoid bloodshed,” he said.
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