A group of Nigerians in UK, under the hash tag; #HarassBuhariOutofLondon, stormed Abuja House on Friday in London, protesting and demanding that President Muhammadu Buhari must return to Nigeria.
The protesters, booing and demanding the President’s immediate return to Nigeria, argued that it was improper for the president to travel out for medical treatment just as doctors under the aegis of National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) commenced an indefinite strike.
In a video tweeted on his verified Twitter handle, Nigerian broadcaster and former presidential aide, Mr Reno Omokri, said the protesters assembled with a mission “to chase the President back home.”
The protesters, many of whom carried various placards asking Buhari to return to Nigeria; chanted: “Go back home Buhari”.
“The Police came but the #HarassBuhariOutOfLondon went on. A frightened @MBuhari refused to come,” Mr Omokri tweeted.
In a separate tweet earlier, Reno said: “The eagle has landed to harass the ego out of London. It is happening people. #HarassBuhariOutOfLondon is on. God willing, I will see you at Abuja House, 2 Campden Hill, Kensington, London W8 7AD by 12 noon.
“We will observe #COVID-19 protocols even as we chase @MBuhari back home.”
In a press release following the protest, the group said, among other things, though the Nigerian High Commission had tried to stop the protest by inviting the police, but the police allowed the protest to continue seeing that it was orderly and peaceful.
“The London Metropolitan Police were called in by the Nigerian High Commission but were unable to stop the process. After questioning Mr. Omokri and observing that the event was orderly, peaceful and not in breach of COVID19 protocols, the police allowed the protest to continue” the statement said.
At the event, Omokri was quoted to have stated that Buhari “left his country on the day resident doctors began a strike and came to the UK to take care of his own health. He has been in office for 5 years, and he is yet to initiate, start and complete even one hospital. Will Boris Johnson fail to build hospitals for the British then run to Nigeria to treat himself?”
“Buhari has budgeted over ₦10 billion naira for the Aso Rock State House Clinic in the five years he has been in office. Is that not enough money to build a hospital and train doctors that can treat him and other Nigerians? Yet, his own wife said that the clinic can’t even provide ordinary paracetamol. Google it”.
“When Buhari’s son, Yusuf, was injured in an accident, we prayed for him to get well. I prayed for him. How did this man reward us? He sent soldiers to Lekki to kill peaceful, unarmed #EndSARS protesters. These are the children of the men and women who prayed for his son.”
“Only 5% of Nigerians are covered by a doctor. …He promised he would do better, but he has turned Nigeria into the world headquarters for extreme poverty. He has bequeathed us the highest unemployment in the world at 33%. We have the highest number of out of school children at 13.5 million. And having destroyed our economy he has ran to a London that is on COVID19 lockdown to restore his health”.
