Presidency, CAN Spa Over Buhari’s Claim On Boko Haram Victims

The Presidency and the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) have sharply disagreed with the President Muhammadu Buhar’s claim in an op-ed published in a Christian newsmagazine in the United States that 90 per cent of the victims of terrorism in Nigeria were Muslims.
The disagreement between the two parties in this melodrama came to the fore, yesterday, following separate statements disputing and affirming the claim, and clarifying issues around the payment or non-payment of ransom for the release of Dapchi and Chibok schoolgirls.
While the Presidency urged the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) to desist from disinformation which can further divide Nigerians, the CAN leadership fired back, insisting that the President’s claim was false and baseless.
The President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, made the call in a statement in Abuja, yesterday.
Adesina was reacting to what he described as, “unfounded allegations by the Christian Association of Nigeria about the payment or non-payment of ransom for the release of the Chibok and Dapchi schoolgirls.”
The CAN’s Director of Legal and Public Affairs, Kwamkur Samuel, was quoted in the traditional and social media outfits to have said inter alia: “Nigerians need to know, if they have not known the reason why the Presidency could not pay ransom to rescue Chibok girls. It is because 80 per cent to 90 per cent of the girls are Christians.
“The reason why Dapchi girls’ ransom was quickly paid and they were returned is the discovery that most of the girls were Muslims except Leah Sharibu who is still in captivity.”
However, Adesina, also recalled that similar allegation was made by the media in August, 2018, when they quoted a UN Report alleging that the Federal Government paid a “huge ransom” for the release of the abducted Dapchi schoolgirls on March 21, 2018.
He said: “The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, immediately disputed the report, insisting that no ransom was paid, little or huge.