President Muhammadu Buhari on sunday visited the survivors of last Friday night’s bomb attacks in Nyanya and Kuje who are receiving treatment at the National Hospital, Abuja with a firm reassurance to them that the federal government would take full responsibility for their medical bills.
The president has ordered the Armed Forces to crush what remains of Boko Haram, the perpetrators of the violence.
Buhari said: “These cowardly attacks expose the real face of the planners and perpetrators of these crimes. What quarrel do they have with the good people of Nyanya Motor Park? What issue do they have with innocent people in market places in Maiduguri, Yola and Kuje? “It is clear that this battle is not ideological. It is between the forces of peace and order and the evil forces of murder and destruction. Security forces and other local authorities have been instructed to maintain extra vigilance to forestall future attacks.
“The Armed Forces have been empowered to crush what remains of Boko Haram. This government is determined to stamp out Boko Haram and all other terrorists of whatever persuasions and bring all sponsors to justice.” President Buhari wished the survivors full and speedy recovery and commiserated with the families of the 20 people that died and prayed for the speedy recovery of the injured.
The president also directed his Chief of Staff, Mallam Abba Kyari, to settle the N268,790 medical bill of a young girl in the Paediatric Ward of the hospital. The girl’s mother, Deborah Stephen, had broken into tears on seeing the president. She told him that her daughter had been shot by armed robbers who raided their home and that the family could not afford the medical bills.
The president, who was accompanied by his personal aides and Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State, visited the Intensive Care Unit, Paediatric Unit and general wards of the hospital. The Chief Medical Director of the National Hospital, Dr. Jafaru Momoh, expressed appreciation and said Buhari’s visit would boost the recovery of the patients by giving them a greater psychological sense of being valued and loved by their country.
Meanwhile, there was heightened presence of security men at strategic locations in Abuja yesterday, following the multiple blasts on Friday night in Kuje and Nyanya. There was also an extension of security checks that started on Saturday morning in various parts of Abuja to shopping plazas and markets in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
There were more soldiers, men of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) as well as other security and intelligence personnel in strategic locations along the major corridors of the nation’s capital. Early on Saturday morning, there were strict stop-and-search operations on all vehicles around the Banex Plaza section of Wuse II, which was a scene of the devastating blasts last year.
