The Buhari Media Support Group mourns the death of Lt. Col Mohammed Abu-Ali and six other soldiers but condemns in strong terms the attempt by some former President Goodluck Jonathan’s supporters to use the unfortunate demise to raise extraneous issues of equipment purchase under the former President Jonathan administration.
The group berates the supporters for not honouring the dead soldiers who sacrificed their lives while defending the country.
Under the prevailing emotional circumstances, what is expected of patriotic Nigerians including the former president’s supporters is to show empathy with the dead, their bereaved families and the institutions they represent, the group says.
In a statement issued by the group and signed by the chairman, Muhammad Labbo and the secretary, Cassidy Madueke, BMSG considers it the height of insensitivity for any person or group of persons to descend to the ignoble level of pointing fingers at this moment of national mourning on issues related to equipment purchase.
For the avoidance of doubt, the purported equipment purchased under the former President Jonathan administration were refurbished T72 tanks from the Warsaw pact countries manufactured before the second world war as evidenced in the video footage posted in the Vanguard newspaper of November 7, 2016.
This is similar to other equipment like the decommissioned Alpha jets and MI 25 helicopters which led to the death of several officers and men as they kept falling off from the sky during operations against Boko Haram in the North East.
The group views with disdain the approach of some political elements to always attempt to draw any seeming benefits of the past, while at all times calling on the present administration not to make reference to the misdeeds and misrule of the past.
The BMSG joins all Nigerians in condoling with the families of the bereaved and enjoin all Nigerians to continue to support President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration in their effort to completely eradicate the menace of Boko Haram.