‘They’re A Disgrace To Us,’ Presidency Speaks On Nigerians Charged With Fraud In U.S

By Abimbola Johnson On Aug 23, 2019

The Presidency has reacted to the charges against no fewer than 77 Nigerians by the United States government for fraud-related crimes.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), in a press statement released in Los Angeles, California on Thursday by US attorney Nick Hanna, announced that 14 defenders were arrested, while the remaining persons are at large in Nigeria, the U.S. and other countries.

So ⁦@PremiumTimesng⁩ has just published full list of 77 Nigerians charged by ⁦@FBI⁩ for massive fraud, money laundering in America.

Those guys disgrace us and disgrace Nigeria! https://t.co/vuZHEFQOTB
— Bashir Ahmad (@BashirAhmaad) August 23, 2019

The development has since garnered several reactions from Nigerians, some of who have claimed that the list is tribalistic.

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But in reaction to such claim, the presidency in a statement by President Muhammadu Buhari’s Special Assistant on New Media, Bashir Ahmaad, said the names are not one-sided as claimed.

Sani, we shouldn’t generalize and tag all our Igbo brothers as criminals or be calling them #IgboYahooBoys as the case would have been if majority of those 77 criminals were to be of the Hausa-Fulani tribes. They are Nigerians and of course their actions remain condemned by all. https://t.co/z7CieAD79y
— Bashir Ahmad (@BashirAhmaad) August 23, 2019

Nigeria is one, FBI and American media didn’t call them by any name but Nigerians, and they are right. They are Nigerians who brought shame to their country. https://t.co/aBvOS1HOPS
— Bashir Ahmad (@BashirAhmaad) August 23, 2019

It may not be wrong to call them by their tribes, but it’s frankly wrong to generalize an entire tribes as criminals because of the crime of 77 people, that’s why it’s always wrong to call all Fulani herdsmen murderers. So #IgboYahooBoys may not be a right hashtag. https://t.co/oeookFdoP1
— Bashir Ahmad (@BashirAhmaad) August 23, 2019

This shouldn’t be a PDP/APC issue, it’s NGR’s issue, but since you decided to play it that way, then King Asa has this for you, if the availability of jobs will stop them from doing Yahoo why didn't they stop when they got to the US where it's a supposedly land of milk and honey? https://t.co/RHY3H2eTdU
— Bashir Ahmad (@BashirAhmaad) August 23, 2019