The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has criticised former presidential spokesperson, Garba Shehu, over his recent admission that the infamous ‘villa rat invasion’ story, used to explain President Muhammadu Buhari’s prolonged absence from office, was fabricated.
Naijaonpoint recall that before Buhari’s return to Nigeria on August 19, 2017, after nearly three months of medical treatment in the United Kingdom, the IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, had alleged that Buhari had been replaced with a clone named Jibrin from Sudan.
Upon Buhari’s return, some Nigerians began to question whether it was truly him or the so-called clone, Jibrin of Sudan, as Kanu claimed.
The situation further fuelled suspicions and doubts about Buhari’s health and leadership capability after his aide, Bashir Ahmed, announced that the former president would be working from home instead of his office at the State House.
In Chapter 10 of the book, titled “Rats, Spin and All That,” Shehu revealed that he crafted the Villa rat invasion story to divert public attention away from concerns about President Buhari’s health and capacity to govern.
In a statement on Sunday, IPOB, through its spokesperson, Emma Powerful, described Shehu’s confession as a vindication of Nnamdi Kanu, who had long alleged that Buhari was gravely ill and that the Nigerian presidency was shrouded in deception.
According to IPOB, Shehu’s belated honesty only underscores the depth of dishonesty within the Nigerian state.
The statement read: “IPoB notes with righteous vindication the stunning admission by Garba Shehu that the now-infamous ‘villa rat invasion’ story was a calculated lie to cover up Buhari’s prolonged illness and absence from governance.
“Let the world take note: what Mazi Nnamdi Kanu said years ago on Radio Biafra, that Muhammadu Buhari was gravely ill and incapable of leading Nigeria, and that Aso Rock was enmeshed in a web of lies and deception, has now been confirmed by one of the principal architects of that deception himself.
“The same Garba Shehu who accused our leader of “fake news” and “hate speech” has now confessed, with no shame, that they orchestrated a national charade to fool over 200 million people. What greater treason can be committed than lying to an entire nation about the health and whereabouts of its so-called president?
“This disgraceful confirmation vindicates everything Kanu has ever said about the fraudulent and deceptive nature of the Nigerian state. He told the truth and was persecuted for it.
“Instead of investigating the truth, the Nigerian media and political elite mocked him. They ridiculed his divine insight. They arrested him. They tortured him. They abducted and renditioned him. But they could not bury the truth.’’