Insecurity: I Wonder What They Smoke At Aso Villa – Ortom Slams Buhari’s Aide

The executive Governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom, has replied to President Muhammadu Buhari’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, following his response to the latter’s comment earlier on the ongoing security issues in the country.

Ortom had earlier claimed in a statement that some high-ranking military officials who confided in him, said President Buhari had warned them against repelling attacks on armed herdsmen.

In a swift response, Shehu mocked the governor saying Ortom expects Nigerians to believe top security personnel would share high-level confidential information with him.

Replying to the presidential aid through his (Ortom’s) Principal Special Assistant (New Media), Raymond Magen, the governor said he has once wondered what they (those living inside Aso Rock Villa) smoke.

Magen said well-meaning Nigerians know the governor as a man who does not make baseless comments on sensitive issues.

He lampooned Shehu insisting that Governor Ortom’s revelation cannot be waved away.

Magen said: “While being a weak line in the hope of making a rebuttal of the governor’s revelation, it smacks of ignorance to make the claim generally, that, Nigeria’s top security personnel would not share confidential information with a state governor. To be clear: on a number of cases, they do. And for a state governor battling herdsmen attacks, it’s a no-brainer, he must have feedback from all security outfits involved in arresting the herder attacks. And such feedback always includes “off-record” or ‘don’t quote me, information.”

He continued saying: “But then, Shehu would also add that, if indeed Gov Ortom is saying the truth, he should “name names”. In Garba’s words: “Let him name the military personnel who told him this story”.

I Wonder What They Smoke At The Villa

The Benue state governor continued his knock on the presidential aide saying: “I once wrote that I wonder what they smoke there at the villa. Garba’s outing here reinforces my curiosity. If Garba expects Ortom to give out the identities of people who give him information on their devilish plans, he’s clearly overrated. It’s sufficient that they know, the Governor and the country now know of this order that has long been widely thought of as merely the body language of the President. It’s worse. It’s now a communicated order.”

Ortom said it is worrisome seeing how gun-wielding herdsmen freely move across the country without almost zero resistance.

He added: “There is now, a guided understanding of how particular weapons are strangely withdrawn from battlefields wherein their use was mostly responsible for inflicting a high number of casualties on enemies of the state.

“It addresses our curiosities (Ortom’s revelation) on strange military tactics like sending out numbered personnel to battle fields with weapons that, easily gathered intelligence already points to possession of way higher grade weaponry by the enemy. It addresses our sense of wonder and helps our appreciation of the many puzzles on bizarre military responses with regards to timing, armed levels, personnel numbers, reluctance or refusal to go after known targets/camps etc.

“To have as President, someone with a military background should ordinarily assure of their loyalty to country, their broad-mindedness and triumph over such common prejudices as ethnicity, religion, region etc. Instead, we have a soldier who embraces vulnerabilities in these areas and presides over country with every security decision and appointment influenced by these parochial leanings. Shame!

“It does point to a deep sense of dissatisfaction, frustration when high-placed military personnel begin to reveal unpopular orders. When these reveals do not lead to reviews and then reversals, options available as resorts are considered and they may not be pleasant options. Ortom’s revelation can not be waved aside,” Magen’s statement added.