Former Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), yesterday, said it remained a mystery how he survived the bomb attack on his convoy in Kaduna on Wednesday. He attributed the miraculous survival to Allah.

Recounting his experience when Kaduna State Governor Mukhtar Yero visited him at his Sultan Close residence in the state capital, Buhari said: “When this question of Boko Haram started, and I am sure it is on record, in the first statement I made about 18 months ago, I said no religion advocates what is happening in the North East. So the case of this kind of killings is not religion; it is also not ethnic. When they kill children in schools in the North East, they kill teachers, they burn churches, they burn mosques, they burn motor parks, they burn markets — where is religion there? Where is ethnicity there? This is terrorism and I hope the government will come to grips with it. Nigeria is capable of dealing with this. Some of us died in the civil war for this country. For 30 months we fought and we kept Nigeria one and, God willing, we are going to keep Nigeria one.

“I commiserate with the families of those that died, because this thing was ignited at exactly when my car was almost side by side with that of the bomber. I came out of the car after the bomb went off. There was blood on my dress. I did not know how it came about because I did not have a scratch myself, but there were dead bodies all over the place. The security tried to move me to the other side and we just got one of the vehicles passing and they brought me home. I hope the law enforcement agencies and the chief executives of the states will succeed in securing the country. May God help us.”

Also speaking on the incident in an interview with the Hausa Service of the Voice of America (VOA), monitored in Kaduna, Buhari, National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), said he was yet to know the motive behind the attempt on his life.

According to him, “We were on our way when a car suddenly trailed us and was speeding to get close to my vehicle, but the one following mine did not allow that.

“When we reached Kawo, near the market, we had to stop for other vehicles coming from the other end. It was the right side of the market, on the left side is the road coming into Kaduna before the overhead.

“From the right side, they detonated the bomb, but Allah saved us. The three vehicles on my convoy were affected. I came out unhurt but I saw many people on the ground, some dead, while others were seriously injured. My aides were injured, too, but they had been treated and discharged.”

The APC presidential contender said he was at a loss regarding the attack as “nobody had written me or called to threaten me. The incident took me by surprise... I don’t know the motive behind the attempt.”

Buhari also commiserated with families of those who died in the incident, while praying God to give them the fortitude to bear the losses.

•Pieced together from reports in Vanguard and Nigerian Tribune. Photo courtesy of Vanguard.

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