Circumstances surrounding the reported shooting at the Aso Villa on Thursday evening, have revealed that the shots were fired to prevent a presidential aide from running away from the premised.
In the meantime, no official statement have been made except by the First Lady, Hajiya Aisha Buhari, who on her official Twitter handle on Friday, called on the Inspector General of Police to release her arrested aide.
It was reliably gathered a Personal Assistant to the President, Mr Sabiu Tunde Yusuf, while discussing with the First Lady tried to leave the Villa but was prevented from doing so by her aides who fired gunshots.
A Villa staffer who claimed to have witnessed the incident told our correspondent that a near struggle between the first lady and the aide, who is a nephew to the president ensued and led to the shot been fired.
The source said the first lady’s policemen while chasing Sabiu fired the shots to stop him. It was learnt that he had just returned from a journey outside the federal capital and the first lady had insisted that he should self-isolate before mixing with other villa staff.
It was learnt that Sabiu after his escape from the Villa went to seek refuge at the residence of Mamman Daura, the president’s powerful uncle who is believed not to see eye to eye with the first lady.
Another source said after receiving reports of the gunshots by policemen in the Villa, Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu visited the Presidential Villa on Friday morning and ordered that the Police officers attached to the office of the First Lady, including her ADC, should be arrested and detained.
This led the First Lady on her verified Twitter handle @aishambuhari, to say: “That COVID-19 is real and still very much around in our nation is not in doubt. Consequently, I call on all relevant Government Agencies to enforce the Quarantine Act signed by Mr. President and ensure no one is found violating this law and the NCDC guidelines especially on interstate travel without the necessary exemptions for movement of essentials.
“Anyone who does that should at the very least be made to undergo a 14 day mandatory isolation no matter who the person is, no one should be above the law and the Police command will do well to remember that.
“Finally, I call on the IGP to release my assigned Staff who are still in the custody of the Police in order to avoid putting their lives in danger or exposure to Covid-19 while in their custody.”
