Omokri Blasts Fani-Kayode: You Misquoted Atiku, You’re ‘Dishonest’

Former President Goodluck Jonathan’s aide, Reno Omokri has tackled ex-Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode, for insisting that all “killer” herdsmen are Fulani.

Fani-Kayode had in an article harassed former Vice President Atiku Abubakar for reproving those who identify prowling herdsmen by their ethnicity.

Atiku had told ThisDAY that, “It is a misnomer to use the term ‘killer herdsmen of Fulani extraction’ or ‘killer Fulani herdsmen,” adding that “The vast majority of Fulani people are peaceful and live in harmony with other ethnicities…When kidnappers kidnap, we do not identify them by their ethnicity. We identify them as kidnappers, pure and simple.”

But Fani-Kayode, who had none of Atiku’s accounts, said “Is it so difficult for us to accept the ugly truth and to call a spade a spade? Must we continue to mock the memories of those that have been slaughtered by shielding those who butchered them? Have we no shame or remorse? Are this childish semantics and infantile denials really necessary?

In the article, the former minister quoted Atiku as saying “Labelling the attackers as Fulani is wrong. Fulani people are peaceful and live in harmony with other ethnicities. To call the killer herdsmen Fulani is a misnomer. They are just criminals and not Fulani criminals”- Vice President Atiku Abubakar, 11 March 2018, Thisday Newspaper.”

The former minister further stated that he has, “immense respect and affection for Vice President Atiku Abubakar and it stretches back for many years but this assertion shocks and surprises me. It is most unlike him to speak in this way.”

Fani-Kayode said “Saying that the Fulani terrorists are not Fulani is rather like saying that Adolf Hitler’s Nazis, who gassed 6 million Jews to death in concentration camps during World War 1, were not German. It is like saying that Abubakar Shekau and his Boko Haram footsoldiers, who have slaughtered thousands of our people over the last few years, are not Muslims and are not Nigerians.”

Reacting, however, Omokri accused Fani-Kayode of deliberately misrepresenting the former Vice President just to drive his “dishonest” points.

“Read what you quote Atiku as saying and read what Atiku actually said. Note that they are 2 different statements. You misrepresented him. You twist his words. Your quote was dishonest. Quote Atiku. Don’t put your words in his mouth! You won’t like it done to you!,” tweeted Omokri.

Fani-Kayode responded saying: “Reno Omokri, I don’t misrepresent people. I stand by all I wrote. I find it difficult to see the distinction in meaning between the 2 quotes u tweeted. Both represent an attempt by Atiku to suggest that some or all of the herdsmen are not Fulani. My point is that they ALL are!”

The ex-Jonathan aide, in reaction, countered the former minister: “Actually, most of those involved in these killings are Mbororo also known as Bororo. I did a broadcast on this last year in London. If the Mbororo speak, the Fulani cannot understand them. The Mbororo differ from the Fulani as the Tiv defer from the Igbo,” tweeted Omokri.

“Recently the police arrested a notorious kidnapper known as Evans. Evans was even discovered to have been a billionaire. But neither the media nor Femi Fani-Kayode described Evans as an Igbo kidnapper or a Yoruba kidnapper. He was just a kidnapper.

“Boko Haram became the deadliest terror group in the world in 2014. It has been established by independent sources that most Boko Haram fighters, are Kanuri from Borno/Yobe, but we do not call them Kanuri terrorists. We call them terrorists pure and simple.

“It is obvious who is being dishonest here. Look at the 2 quotes. Nigerians can read for themselves. You misquoted Atiku. It is in black and white. Plain as day. Why did you not just quote what he said? Why did you have to add and remove to what he said?

“Let us face the issue at hand instead of trying to divert it. You dishonestly misquoted Atiku and this is the proof. Be man enough to accept it and apologize. Would you like it if it’s done to you?” he queried.