INSECURITY: Garba Shehu, Omokri Fight Dirty As Buhari’s Aide Rejects ‘$20,000’ To Spend A Night In Borno
President Muhammadu Buhari’s senior media assistant, Garba Shehu, and former president Goodluck Jonathan’s media aide, Reno Omokri, have taken to social media to engage in a dirty fight over Nigeria’s worsening insecurity.
Omokri had fired the first shot by attacking Shehu after he claimed in a recent opinion piece that President Buhari’s administration had “demonstrated unquestionable capacity to protect Nigerians,” contrary to the general perception that insecurity had worsened under his principal’s watch.
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Shehu made the claim while commending the Buhari administration for ensuring the safe return of over 300 schoolboys kidnapped from a government school in Kankara, Katsina State, by bandits about a fortnight ago.
But Omokri, in a tweet on Wednesday, challenged the president’s aide to prove that President Buhari had “made Nigeria safer” by spending a night in Koshobe or Kware without the protection of security agents.
Koshebe is a village in the crisis-ridden Borno State, where suspected Boko Haram terrorists were said to have killed at least 110 civilians and rice farmers on November 28, 2020.
Omokri had tweeted, “Garba Shehu said General @MBuhari has made Nigeria safer. I vow to pay @GarShehu $20000 if he will spend a night without security in Koshobe, or Kware, verified by an independent journalist. I will give the funds to @DeleMomodu when Garba accepts to go.”
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But responding, Shehu rejected Omokri’s $20,000 offer, saying he did not want anything to do with money “made in the name of Leah Sharibu,” who was the only Christian girl held hostage by Boko Haram for refusing to denounce her faith when the terrorists released 109 girls kidnapped from the Government Girls’ Science and Technical College (GGSTC), Dapchi, Yobe State, on February 19, 2020.
Omokri had started the “Free Leah Sharibu movement” to create awareness and advocate for the freedom of Sharibu. He had written a book on Sharibu and had launched the #FreeLeahSharibu customized clothing line, which he said was to raise money for the kidnaped schoolgirl’s parents.
But in response to Shehu’s suggestion that he was making money for himself from the Leah Sharibu campaign, Omokri challenged the president’s aide to “come up with proof that I have made even a penny from #FreeLeahSharibu,” adding that, “please focus on the issue at hand and accept my challenge. Stop dribbling”
Meanwhile, Ovation Magazine publisher, Dele Momodu, earlier confirmed in a tweet that he had received a call from Omokri to be in charge of the $20,000 up for grabs by Shehu should he decide to take up the challenge.
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Momodu followed up with another tweet, saying: “As your umpire, I suggest our Brother Garba Shehu takes up the challenge gratis as an avowed disciple of President Buhari and call the bluff of Reno Omokri and I will declare the winner asap…”
