Ndume clarifies ‘attack on Buratai’ report, says town victim of insurgents

Senator representing Borno South Senatorial District and former Senate Leader, Ali Ndume has clarified media reports which quoted him to have said that the “former Chief of Army Staff, Lt- General Tukur Buratai, narrowly escaped death as his convoy was attacked last Friday in Borno State by Boko Haram insurgents.”

In a statement he issued on Monday, the lawmaker described the report as misleading having quoted him out of context on the interview he granted Channels Television on Sunday on programme: Politics Today.

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Ndume said, it was Buratai as a town that was attacked and not the person of the former Chief of Army Staff who bears “Buratai”, hence, there was need to clarify the media reports.

Though, the former Army Chief hails from Buratai town in Biu Local Government Council in Borno State and bear the same name, he wasn’t the one attacked as widely reported in the media.

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The federal lawmaker further noted that what he said on Channels Television while speaking on security was that ” Even two days ago, Buratai (town) was attacked in front of the operations base in Borno. But the soldiers stood up to them, but they ( the attackers) burnt down some of our assets.

Normally these days they burnt assets like Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles (MRAPs), tanks, and heavy-duty machine guns that we have and sometimes they steal some of these equipment and go with it.

“The situation is getting terrible in Borno, the situation is bad in all the six geo- political zones, except in south south. Even south south, we are grappling with economic sabotage like oil theft.

South west is the only region that is relatively safe.”

The former Senate Leader appealed to journalists to avoid misrepresentation in news reporting to avoid the embarrassing effect on Politically Exposed Individuals and the integrity of such media organisations.

“I am surprised that the town Buratai could be misconstrued as the person of General Buratai, who incidentally hails from the town.”

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