Fact Check: Did Tinubu’s Running Mate, Shettima Have Breakfast With Armed Bandits ?

Fact-Check: Did Kashim Shettima Have Breakfast With Armed Bandits in Borno State?

Claim: The vice presidential candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Senator Kashim Shettima was portrayed to be having a breakfast in the company of bandits in a now-viral photo on social media, especially Facebook and WhatsApp.

Full text: A photo has recently gone viral on social media in which Senator Kashim Shettim, a former governor of Borno State was featured dining with some persons alleged ‘armed Bandits.’ They were shown eating ‘suya’ meat, bread and bottled water.

The photo bears the caption “Bandits having Breakfast with their master. Guess who? Tinubu’s vice Kashim Shettima.”

Sparks of heated comments between Muslims and Christians in Nigeria broke out shortly after a Muslim running mate to a Muslim Presidential flagbearer was announced. Some Christians claimed that it is unjust for the APC presidential flagbearer to select a running mate from the same islamic faith considering the state of affairs in the country.

Observation:

Since the announcement of Senator Kashim Shettima as running mate to APC’s presidential candidate, Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu, seeming campaigns of calumny against his person have continued to emerge.

One of such campaigns involved the circulation of an image of Senator Shettima with people purported to be notorious armed bandits/terrorists.

Verification:

According to a full-length video obtained by PRNigeria, Senator Kashim Shettima was actually dining with nomadic Fulani in their community when he paid them a persuasion visit in his efforts to convince them to enroll their children into his free educational program in that remote community while he was Governor of the State.

It was during this excursion that Mr Shettima adorned in the same outfit dinned with the Fulani leaders.

This is evidenced in an archived video dated October 2017, posted by Mr Shettima himself.

He captioned the footage thus, “We are enrolling the children of nomadic Fulani to school under a free scholarship programme.

“Under this programme, we are enticing both the parents and the children with plenty incentives to encourage enrollment and attendance at school.”

Recall that in October 2017, the then Governor of Borno State, Kashim Shettima launched a free school enrollment for children of nomadic Fulanis to among other aims, win the hearts of Fulani nomads and forestall early potentials of clashes that could lead to a breach of peace.

It can be recalled that that in December 2018 the wife of President Muhammadu Buhari, Aisha inaugurated the Aisha Buhari Integrated School for Nomadic Community in Maiduguri.

The school, which was built and equipped by the Borno administration of Governor Kashim Shettima, is meant to provide an atmosphere conducive for learning to the children of nomads.

Shettima held several interactions with the parents and after weeks of intense lobbying with incentives, the nomadic Fulanis gave their children for enrollment into schools. Because of such a masterstroke, today, Borno does not suffer from violent activities involving Fulanis.

Conclusion/Verdict:

The claim that Senator Kashim Shettima had breakfast with bandits is FALSE. Based on the undisputed evidence gathered by PRNigeria from video and reports made available by credible media houses, Senator Kashim Shettima has never had a breakfast with bandit-terrorists. The claim is therefore NOT TRUE