Soldiers killed - Atiku Challenge Service Chiefs were attending Buhari's second Team

The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, on Monday, regretted that soldiers were killed on the day the nation’s service chiefs were attending the inauguration of President Muhammadu Buhari’s re-election campaign.

He said it was possible that the killing could have been avoided if the service chiefs had been allowed to concentrate on their jobs.

This was contained in a statement made available to journalists in Abuja by the Atiku Presidential Campaign Organisation.

The organization recalled that Atiku had asked his friends and associates to present the gifts they would have given him on his birthday to the families of the slain soldiers.

It said it was therefore wrong for the All Progressives Congress to cast aspersions on the presidential candidate on the day of his birthday and turbaning as Waziri Adamawa.

It said the APC’s statement which accused the former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of “selfishness and mercantilism” was curious as Atiku dedicated his birthday, not to himself, but to celebrate the 100 or so heroes of the 157 Taskforce Battalion of the Nigerian Army who lost their lives to Boko Haram at Metele in Borno State.

It added that the fact that Atiku asked for anyone who wished to give him birthday gifts to instead endow such on the families of the slain heroes is the opposite of selfishness.

The statement read, “Ironically, the All Progressives Congress that is now accusing Atiku Abubakar, has not deemed it fit to pay tribute to these gallant men who gave their lives in order to secure the lives of others.

“As a party, they have not issued even one statement condoling with the slain or their families, neither have they offered any tangible support to the families of these fallen heroes. Yet, they are accusing the Waziri, who has shown commitment to honouring these heroes, of selfishness.