The Presidency has accused opposition politicians of paying miscreants to boo the presidential motorcade in Maiduguri, Borno State capital,  when the President, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.).

Residents of Maiduguri, the Borno State capital had on Wednesday, booed Buhari’s motorcade during his condolence visit to the state over the killing of 30 travellers.

However, the Senior Special Assistant [SSA] to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, made the allegation in an interview with the Hausa Service of the BBC on Thursday.

Shehu said,

“I was part of the delegation that entered Maiduguri right from the Airport to the Palace of the Shehu of Borno. The people came out to say thank you and welcome us.

“But there was a group which came out shouting ‘we don’t want,’ I also heard those saying ‘we don’t want.’

He said, maybe,

“Some politicians gathered some miscreants and paid them money to boo (President) Buhari.”

The presidential aide said whoever recorded the booing incident and shared on social media didn’t do justice to the people of Borno State whom he said were people who had a reputation for welcoming guests.

Shehu also said for a city like Maiduguri which has a population of four or five million people, and since no human being is god, it was not possible to satisfy everyone.

He also said the administration of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), has demonstrated capacity to fight Boko Haram and he has promised to change strategy in dealing with what he described as a new problem.