FEEDBACK: Mixed reactions as residents boo Buhari during sympathy visit to Maiduguri

President Muhammdu Buhari was booed on Wednesday by residents of Maiduguri during his sympathy visit to the area that was recently attacked by the Boko Haram insurgents.

Buhari had landed in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia after the Thirty-third (33rd) Ordinary Session of Heads of State and Government of the African Union (AU) in Addis Ababa, to pay a sympathy visit to the government and people of the state who were struck by the attack.

Although, President Buhari, in a statement issued by his media aide, Garba Shehu, commiserated with the family of victims of attacks, and assured them that his administration will continually frustrate the devilish operations of Boko Haram, with a promise that it will soon be a thing of the past.

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In a viral video, residents of the metropolis, who came out early, lined up on both sides of the road along the airport way, expressing their disapproval by booing Buhari’s convoy, with a loud chorus in Hausa, ‘Ba ma so’ which means: ‘we don’t like it.’

The President further said his administration is ever determined to frustrate their goal to hold Nigeria to ransom. “The commitment of this administration to protect the lives of Nigerians will not be derailed by the cowardly and indiscriminate violence against innocent people by Boko Haram terrorists,’’ he said while reacting to recent attacks in Maiduguri.

President Buhari, who also condoled with the government of the state, warned “that terrorists are clearly on a back foot and their days are numbered’.’ “As our armed forces continue to receive more hardware and intelligence to counter our current security challenges, the remnants of Boko Haram will ultimately be crushed. The peculiar challenges of asymmetric warfare notwithstanding, our armed forces are ever determined to defeat these enemies of humanity,’’ President Buhari said.

Meanwhile, Boko Haram insurgents on Sunday night killed 30 passengers from dozens of travelers that were forced to pass the night in Auno, a community 25 kilometers away from Maiduguri. Some of the victims, including a mother and an infant, were reportedly burnt beyond recognition by a fire from a petrol tanker set ablaze by the terrorists.

However, Nigerians have taken to Twitter to express displeasure, while some had frowned on the actions of the perpetrators, see tweets below: