You aided Chibok girls abduction; opened floodgates of terror in Borno, Atiku’s aide fires back at Shettima

Phrank Shuaibu, a spokesperson for opposition leader Atiku Abubakar, has lashed out at Vice President Kashim Shettima, accusing him of aiding Chibok girls abduction and opening floodgates of terror as Borno State governor. 

Mr Shettima had jokingly said he would retire Mr Abubakar to be a livestock farmer, speaking after the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) affirmed Bola Tinubu’s electoral victory.

In a statement on Friday, however, Mr Shuaibu berated Mr Shettima for speech deficiency and his “love to rack lackluster jokes.” 

“Shettima opened the floodgates of terror,” Mr Shuaibu said. “During his tenure as governor between 2011 and 2019, Borno State was taken over by terrorists completely.”

“He ignored a security report about an impending attack on Chibok which ultimately led to the abduction of over 250 schoolgirls,” he added.

Boko Haram insurgency took a deadlier trajectory under Mr Shettima’s administration in Borno. 

In 2014, over 250 school girls were kidnapped from their dormitory in Chibok community, an incident that gained global attention and condemnation.

“Well it took quite a while”, Mr Shettima said when asked in a CNN interview how long it took for him to hear from then president Goodluck Jonathan on the abduction.

“For the first three weeks, we were politicking and there is a whole of difference between governance and politics. Instead of us to frontally address the situation, we were busy looking for scapegoat,” Mr Shettima said.