Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai has disclosed his conversation with President Muhammadu Buhari over the daring threat from terrorists to abduct him.
El-Rufai said the president was worried about the situation and has assured him that he had given directives to security operatives to act swiftly to strike the terrorists before they could get to them first.
A video had gone viral over the weekend showing terrorists threatening to kidnap the number one citizen of Nigeria and Governor El-Rufai.
The terrorists did not state clearly why they directed the threat to only President Buhari and the sitting governor of Kaduna. It was, however, clear that the assailants were responsible for the killing and abduction of scores of people onboard an Abuja-Kaduna train in March 2022.
In a conversation with Daily Trust last night, El-Rufai said the Nigerian leader was not aware of the viral video until he himself informed him.
El-Rufai said he and his family members have been warned by the terrorists, to be careful and know their boundaries.
Perplexed by the development, the governor said for the past five years he has been advocating for the bombing of terrorist camps wherever they are, saying it’s the only solution to the problem.
During the Radio programme on Wednesday night with Daily Trust, El-Rufai reportedly said: “I have been warned to be careful including my families too. How can we be in a country with soldiers, police and Federal Government but some terrorists will be threatening to abduct the president?
“If in the past those in government think this is a joke and see it as only happening in Katsina, Zamfara, Kaduna and Niger, it’s now at home and we must rise up to deal with these people. 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 so as to take action.”
Speaking on President Buhari’s verdict about the threat, El-Rufai said: “The president assured me that he met with the service chiefs 3-4 days before our meeting and that he gave them a clear directive to have a comprehensive military operation to deal with those people. We hope, God’s willing the soldiers and police that were given the directives will hasten up to finish the job. We don’t have to wait until they (terrorists) strike before we respond.
“They (soldiers) must go after them wherever they are to deal with them. The truth is we are worried about the security situation but we hope the federal government will do the right thing.”
