Aide: Why el-Rufai was first to inform Buhari about bandits’ kidnap threat

Muyiwa Adekeye, media aide to Nasir el-Rufai, governor of Kaduna, has explained why his principal discussed with President Muhammadu Buhari on a kidnap threat.

In a video that surfaced over the weekend, bandits had threatened to abduct the president and the governor.

Speaking on the development on Wednesday, el-Rufai had said the president was unaware of the threat before he discussed the matter with him.

Giving further details on why the governor was the first to inform Buhari about the kidnap threat, Adekeye, in a statement on Friday, said it was not an attempt to show security agencies were not effective.

“The suggestion and storylines by a section of the media that this amounted to a failing by the security agencies to brief Mr. President is not what the Governor expressly said in the Hausa language interview,” the statement reads.

“At all times, it is important that the media exercises restraint and ensures contextual accuracy in reporting, and avoids issues that may arise from or be lost in translation.

“We must not by acts of commission or omission glorify the terrorists or demonise officials charged with the duty to contain and destroy them. Nigeria’s security challenges should neither be politicised nor deployed to mislead our people.”