By Shola Abayomi.
The Presidency has reacted to claims by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) suggesting that President Muhammadu Buhari was either not in Japan or was deliberately hiding from members of the proscribed group for fear of harassment.
Recall that the IPOB had earlier claimed that President Buhari was deceiving Nigerians with “photoshopped” pictures of himself in Japan.
The IPOB, in a statement issued today, added that many of its members in Japan had camped at the airport waiting to receive the president who was ‘nowhere to be found.’
The Presidency, however dismissed the claims, describing it as concocted and a stock-in-trade of hate mongers.
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, urged Nigerians to ignore the IPOB, while stating that President Buhari would make his presence known at the Seventh Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD7) holding in Japan regardless of threats by the group.
Adesina said: “Nigerians at home and in the Diaspora are urged to disregard concocted stories, backed with spurious visuals, of any protest or harassment of the President and his team. It is the stock-in-trade of hate mongers, who do not realize that the rest of Nigerians have left them far behind.
“President Buhari will make his presence at the Seventh Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD7) count for Nigeria, and no scare-mongering or sabre-rattling will detract from the outing.”