Sirajo Saidu, one of the staunch supporters of President Muhammadu Buhari in Facebook, has left the president. He has now declared his support for a former Kano state governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso.
Saidu, from Sokoto state, said his decision was influenced by the recent kidnapping of five of his brothers by bandits.
PREMIUM TIMES reported how bandits abducted more than 20 people on December 12 in separate attacks against communities in the Wurno local government area of Sokoto state.
Immediately after the kidnapping, Saidu took to his Facebook page to announce that five of his brothers were among the 20 abducted residents.
“The five men taken into our house are my brothers. The bandits did not kill anyone in our community, but they took many people away in that operation alone. We are waiting for them (bandits) to ask for the ransom. Please include my brothers and other victims in your prayers, ”he wrote in Hausa, the language he uses to communicate with his more than 4,000 followers and some 5,000 friends on Facebook.
Speaking to PREMIUM TIMES two days after the abduction, Saidu said that the kidnappers had contacted the family and that family members had started contributing money to pay the ransom. However, he did not indicate the amount requested.
Now I’m for kwankwaso
Saidu, who is popular on social media for attacking critics of the president and the Congress of All Progressives (APC), said his reason for firing Buhari was because no one helped him or his family members to raise the ransom money.
“Today, Wednesday December 29, 2021, I, Surajo Saidu Sokoto, left the Buhariyya team (a Hausa coin for Buhari followers) and now I have joined the Kwankwasiya team (a Me Kwankwaso coin). Because the bandits kidnapped my five brothers and I published it several times, but we paid the ransom money and none of them helped me, “he wrote.
Sirajo’s Facebook Post Declares Support For Kwankwaso
On his Facebook profile, where Buhari’s photo used to be, Saidu now replaced it with Kwankwaso’s.
Mr. Kwankwaso, the former governor of Kano, is a member of the opposition party, PDP. He sought the PPD presidential candidacy in 2019, but lost to Atiku Abubakar, who ultimately lost in the general election to Buhari.
In the past, Saidu had accused ‘enemies of Arewa’, Nigerian journalists and many others of trying to sabotage the Buhari administration.
He once wrote that he would lead the State Security Service to launch a house-to-house arrest of Mr. Buhari’s critics in Sokoto for distracting the president.
His most recent post praising Buhari was on Monday, December 27. He posted a photo of the president and wrote:
“I feel happy every time I see the photo of Baba Buhari smiling.”
More posts by Pro-Buhari
“Even if insecurity kills us in the north, we will never leave Buhari. We will continue to follow him and be patient until God brings and ends the problem. We know that a responsible person like Buhari will never be able to deceive his relatives, ”Saidu once wrote on Facebook.
Pro-Buhari Facebook Posts by Mr Sirajo
“In history, I am the most maligned Buhari supporter whose parents are carelessly insulted on social media by critics of Buhari,” he said in another post, which had 175 comments and four shares.
“God may admit me to his Jannah (paradise) due to the level of insult from my parents for my support of Buhari,” he wrote in another post that had 223 comments and was shared 58 times.
‘He deserves it’
Meanwhile, Facebook users who felt ‘insulted’ by Saidu’s previous posts praising Buhari and accusing his critics of exaggerating the security situation in the Northwest have been making scathing remarks about his latest post getting rid of the president. .
A popular Facebook user Arewa Queen shared the post, writing, “So Mr. Sirajo Saidu finally felt Baba Buhari’s staff ???.”
Abdurahman Yunusa said, “This is karma in its truest form. May God save your brothers. “
Ahmad Ishaq, who is also from Sokoto, said, “No way! You must continue to support the Buhari administration. “
Insecurity in the Northwest
The kidnapping of Mr. Saidu’s brothers is not unique. Armed individuals routinely target communities in Sokoto, Katsina, Zamfara and Kaduna states, killing and kidnapping at will. Thousands of people have been killed or kidnapped in the northwestern states in 2021 despite the massive deployment of security agents in the area.