Bauchi Senator, Buba, Didn’t Have Any Connection With Bello Turji, Demolish Church For Mosque – Group

Ajiya Ayuba,

The Bauchi State Youth Forum, known as (Gentlemen) has said that Senator Shehu Umar Bub, representing Bauchi South Senatorial District, didn’t have any connection with the wanted bandit leader, Bello Turji.

In a press conference at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Secretariat, Bauchi Council, Ibrahim Yakubu Muhid, who is the coordinator of the group, said that Senator Buba has the right to take any proper and lawful action on the false report by Sahara Reporters linking him with the wanted bandits’ leader, Bello Turji.

He said that the Sahara Reporters also claimed that Buba demolished a Christian church in Plateau State and built Masjid in its place.

The group said that in Plateau state can bear witness to the fact that no Muslim, no matter how strong he might be, can come to the state and demolish a property such as a church and build successfully in its place a mosque. Adding that “This is indeed laughable by itself and say the least of the publisher’s ignorance of land laws and socio-cultural context of the place under review”

Adding that Senator Shehu Buba’s background, training, political experience, lifetime achievements, and current position of national importance in the 10th Senate as Chairman Senate Committee on National Security and Intelligence, he does not and could not have any link whatsoever with any criminal element by whatever name called or profile associated with him or her.

“It is a public record and knowledge that, with his views, contributions, efforts, and sacrifices towards attaining peace and bringing an end to the insecurity affecting many parts of Northern Nigeria—a struggle he has been patriotically involved in even before his election to the 10th Senate. He deserves our commendation, but not the propagated condemnation by the Sahara media.”

“We therefore restate the fact with emphasis that false allegations and misleading narratives suggesting any ties between the society and politically discrediting Senator Buba, with the Bandit Turji, or any criminal would again come and pass for the hollow, empty, mischievous, and politically crafted lie.”

“On the allegation of church demolition and building of a masjid in its place in Plateau State, as the Sahara Reporters falsely and libelously published, nothing can be farther from the truth than that.”

“The allegation is false, does not have any semblance or iota of truth, and it is yet another example of using religion, given its sensitivity in Nigerian affairs, to drag Senator Buba’s hard-earned reputation into the mud so that a wedge will be put between him and the cordial relationship he enjoys with our Christian counterparts, especially as 2027 draws near”

“We are praying for him and, based on his good intentions, concern for especially the well-being of the common man, and his performance so far, we can see him succeeding in 2027 and beyond. We are solidly behind him in this regard. He has our support for all the excellent work he has been doing.”

The group admonishes politicians, media practitioners, scholars, clerics, and members of the public as a whole to always be mindful, watchful, and truthful in what they say or report about one another. For clerics in particular, “we refer to verse 5 in Chapter 49 of the Holy Qur’an, where Allah (SWT) said.