Desert Herald Exclusive - Until the day President Muhammadu Buhari traveled to London for 10 days medical vacation, very few privileged Nigerians knew what exactly prompted his sudden and largely unprepared journey to the UK. But is it clear to those that are privy to some pieces of information regarding his health that the president, like many others in his age, is having some health challenges even before becoming the president and has been visiting the United Kingdom from time to time for medical evaluation and treatment
DESERT HERALD can report that his condition since then has been very stable, manageable and not life threatening.
According to a credible insider Mr. Buhari’s known sickness then was prostate cancer, a common disease among men of his age. Prostate cancer is cancer (abnormal growth) of the prostate gland in men; sometimes, this situation requires surgery. In Radical Prostatectomy, the surgeon addresses the prostate cancer by removing the entire prostate gland. This surgery can be performed in many ways, such as laparoscopically (minimally-invasive), traditional open surgery, or using robots during the surgery. In all these variations, incisions are made in the patient’s body, and the prostate gland is removed. Even after removing it patients require periodic medical checkups and medications.
BUHARI’S RETURN
It was a big sigh of relief to many Nigerians particularly admirers of Mr. Buhari when he returned to the country after fifty days in the UK attending to his health. Apart from some occasional unnecessary publicity that made the issue controversial, those that manage issues of his health at the UK under Mamman Daura did a very good job not only for creating suspense in the minds of particularly critics and those that might be after his life but for resisting the pressure that the president must speak directly to the nation or to convince the nation that all is well with the No.1 citizen.
While Mr. Buhari appeared highly emaciated on return recently, fueling speculation that he is far from recovery, his appearance Monday the day he resumed after resting during the weekend at the Villa has comforted many skeptical Nigerians that all is now well with the president.
Is everything well with the president now or he is still in a fragile situation? Is he likely to survive whatever sickness that is affecting him?
THE THREATS AGAINST BUHARI
It is obvious that Mr. Buhari has either underestimated the extent of those he became a threat to can go in attempts to frustrate or even destroy him, or he has taken so many things for granted. He might also have entrusted sensitive responsibilities in people that either lack sufficient knowledge of their jobs or those than can easily be used and compromised. Clearly, the threats are many and from all directions. Many of them are avoidable and would have prevented unnecessary distraction from the mission and vision he set for himself to achieve as a president.
First, there is the Shiite issue and the Iranian connection. For those that know the Shiites, it’s ideology, connection, cult like followership and influence in almost every part of the Nigerian society, the Zaria killings would have been prevented by all means while the aftermath that saw the arrest of its leader and many others wouldn’t have been so mismanaged at the instance of the president.
While the Shiite issue has become a serious national security dilemma, the approach of the president and the government’s handling of the massacre of its members and the continued incarceration of its spiritual leader, Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, despite court orders according to many will not in any way solve the problem especially for a government that has a mandate of only four years and maximum of eight years if and when re-elected. The government appears to be in a dilemma on the issue of El-Zakzaky because the Shiite leader according to credible sources was badly manhandled and now almost incapacitated. The fear of releasing El-Zakzaky and seeing him in his new look and what it may trigger among his followers is also an issue of concern for the Federal Government while the Shiite movement has undoubtedly become a serious national security issue and a time bomb. The Iranian Government is clearly not happy with President Buhari on El-Zakzaky and the handling of the Shiite issue in Nigeria.
The second factor that exposes Mr. Buhari to danger is his anti-corruption crusade. Though noble l and highly commendable, his detractors mostly the powerful corrupt elements read betrayal and vendetta in it. They said the president had during the campaign promised to draw the lines in his anti-corruption war and concentrate from where he starts but failed to do so on assumption of office, extending the fight against corruption to the immediate past regime of Mr. Goodluck Jonathan. They said while the arms probe has affected many, those close to the president like the minister of interior, Gen. Abdulrahman Danbazau (rtd), were not affected thereby reading selectivity and vendetta. Casualties of the anti-corruption war like Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd), Air Marshal Alex Bade, Dame Patience Jonathan and many others are so powerful, connected and rich and hence pose a threat to Mr. Buhari. They know the secrets of the Villa more than the present occupants.
The issue of Nnamdi Kanu, his continued incarceration and the ambition of many politicians particularly those demonstrating ‘loyalty’ to the president and hoping to benefit if he dies are also factors of threat against Mr. Buhari.
THE VISIT OF BISHOP JUSTIN WELBY TO BUHARI
Even though there were insinuations that President Buhari might have been poisoned, it remains speculative as there is no official confirmation to that. The doctors at the United Kingdom, DESERT HERALD can reveal, had done so much and have tried their best to the almost unconscious Buhari. While the president and some selected members of his inner caucus, precisely Mallam Mamman Daura, were said to have been informed and are aware of what actually happened, credible sources confided in this medium that the visit of the world leader of the Anglican Church and Bishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, to Mr. Buhari a day before he arrives Nigeria is not just an ordinary visit for felicitation and goodwill as reported in the media. The source told DESERT HERALD that Bishop Welby, who is reportedly highly connected in the British intelligence community and allegedly an agent of MI6 has confirmed to Buhari during his visit that he was indeed poisoned. The poison, according to medical sources, is enough to kill the president or make him permanently incapacitated. His survival to date is like a miracle to even his doctors.
DESERT HERALD was told that the president is not yet free from danger and that some of the powerful gladiators in the country, especially some that might be connected to the poison conspiracy directly or indirectly, are fully aware and keenly following up developments. President Buhari after his arrival left no one in doubt that he will be frequenting London to attend to his health which suggests the gravity of the illness. While the same source confided that apart from the prostate cancer, Buhari had lately developed other illnesses which DESERT HERALD cannot mention now because it could not verify it as at the time of going to press. Experts interviewed by this paper said even if Buhari is suffering from other life threatening disease(s) it is highly unlikely with the quality of medical attention he is receiving to be in the terrible condition he was while in London.
In the cause of our investigation some of those close to the president have attributed his fallen health to a prolonged heart disease, while others said he also has a lever problem which they said was the reason why Buhari undergo blood transfusion at the UK and that he may require more in the future. Some have confided that he has been using a heart support device called pacemaker for sometime. A pacemaker is a small device that’s placed in the chest or abdomen to help control abnormal heart rhythms. The device uses low-energy electrical pulses to prompt the heart to beat at a normal rate. Pacemakers are used to treat arrhythmias. Arrhythmias are problems with the rate or rhythm of the heartbeat.
Heart, lever and even kidney patients often undergo blood transfusion as Buhari did.
Many people who have surgery need blood transfusions because they lose blood during their operations. For example, about one-third of all heart surgery patients have a transfusion. Whether Buhari’s case has anything to do with any of the above diseases will be left for unfolding developments and investigations to determine, but what is almost certain for now is the conspiracy of alleged poisoning which DESERT HERALD is reporting.
HOW BUHARI WAS REPORTEDLY POISONED
The Presidential Villa, Aso Rock, under Mr. Buhari’s presidency is the most vulnerable in recent history of the nation and perhaps one of the most exposed in the whole world. The tight security at the entrance gate and the protocol associated with its entry might be just deceptive and notwithstanding.
In today’s Villa the cabal or the power brokers around Mr. Buhari are so hugely divided and in intense rivalry. The rivalry is so dirty, often embarrassing and unprecedented in the history of Nigeria. The victim is always the president. The powerful side of the First Lady, Aisha Buhari is determined to be relevant and always active while the other side controlled by Mamman Daura is doing all it could not only to suppress the limit of Aisha but to watch at her closely.
The First Lady had reportedly attacked and challenged Mr. Daura several times and at one time even threw banana and oranges at him in the presence of her seemingly helpless husband. Those close to Aisha Buhari confided in this reporter that she is accusing Mr. Daura of trying to destroy the image of her husband, distancing him from those hitherto close to him, using his influence as a conduit pipe and spying on her. Our informant confided that if not because of the wisdom and patience demonstrated by Mr. Buhari even before travelling to the UK and the possible political implication, he would have divorced his wife since then.
The presidency is exposed to many visitors every day. Many of such visits are not actually official but on either appointment with the First Lady, Mr. Daura or even the people close to them that were accommodated in the Villa obviously for the wrong reasons. Relatives of the First Lady, her associates or the likes of one Musa Daura, Tunde etc are not only residing in the Villa but often invite whoever they wish to visit them as well without recourse to obvious security implication. While from the surface Mr. President seems very secured and well protected, he is perhaps the most exposed president that can easily be harmed at the slightest opportunity because of the above shortcomings. And those close to the president seem to have forgotten that many before now have studied the Villa like a science and they will stop at nothing using whatever they can afford as a tool of compromise to ensure that the president is no more. Certainly, Mr. Buhari has become a big threat to many unscrupulous and corrupt Nigerians. His continued survival or being active at the helm of affairs is one issue they will live to fight with their blood.
And they took maximum advantage to hit back at the visionary and patriotic President Buhari. It is almost similar to the circumstances that led to the assassination of late Premier of the defunct Northern Region, Sir Ahmadu Bello. The army then in Kaduna under late General Hassan Usman Katsina as the GOC was so relaxed and couldn’t read between the lines when Major Nzeugwu mobilized cadets from the NDA, attacked Sardauna in his house and killed him and his wife. The north or Sardauna then had the upper hand because the entire garrison command is under a northerner and a Muslim but he (Hassan Usman Katsina) was overrun by cadets in a wrong place and unprepared and so had to accept the killing of his kinsman and taking over of the government. Hassan Katsina, like some of those close to Buhari today, had taken so much for granted and eventually paid for it.
From what was revealed to DESERT HERALD, Mr. Buhari as usual had a long discussion with his confident and uncle, Mamman Daura, that faithful day. The source confided that when he left Mr. Daura, he proceeded straight to his apartment to sleep. The president was said to have put on the AC in his room himself as he retires to bed. As soon as the AC started, apparently after inhaling the air, Mr. Buhari started coughing profusely and was eventually vomiting blood and suddenly unconscious. That was how the journey to the UK was hurriedly arranged according to an impeccable insider. Mr. Daura was reportedly so confused, devastated and couldn’t believe it when he was informed.
DESERT HERALD was told that the plot was indeed a poison targeted at killing the president. This reporter further learnt that the actual perpetrators might have gotten some officers at the Maintenance Department of the Villa compromised. It was suspected that through the Maintenance Department and during its routine maintenance work, the cylinder of the President’s AC was replaced with a toxic and poisonous one. The type of the poison that was used was said to have been detected in Mr. Buhari’s lever by the doctors at the UK during their investigation. If this latest information and ongoing investigation prove right the claim of poisoning, the DSS, the Army and several others in the Villa will be indicted and will have so much to explain. The issue is also raising serious questions about the competence and commitment of some of those appointed by Mr. Buhari. His SA Domestic, one Sarki Abba for example, is also at the centre of the alleged negligence, incompetence and ineptitude. Sarki Abba, from what DESERT HERALD gathered, is a godson of the late Salihijo of the defunct PTF. He was with President Buhari since the death of his boss, Mr. Salihijo and had since then became close to him. Presidency sources told DESERT HERALD that the position of SA Domestic was a very sensitive one and that apart from giving it to a trusted person, experience and competence in handling such job is very important.
MAJOR HAMZA AL-MUSTAPHA AS A FACTOR OF UNRAVELLING THE ACTUAL TRUTH
As efforts are reportedly being made by the presidency to unearth the serious security breach at the Villa and to thoroughly investigate the poison conspiracy with a view to determining the executors and actual sponsors, the name of late General Sani Abacha’s Chief Security Officer (CSO), Major Hamza Al-Mustapha (rtd), DESERT HERALD was told, was strongly suggested to lead such investigation. Our source revealed that a very keen Al-Mustapha, a respected and highly gifted personality in the intelligence community, has been contacted. Apart from his knowledge of the Villa, Major Al-Mustapha knows very well the politics, conspiracies and intricacies associated with the seat of power. Already DESERT HERALD was informed that amongst those that were either fingered or suspected of having a hand in the alleged poison conspiracy and are said to be under investigation is a foreign country (name withheld), an influential Islamic sect whose loyal members are within the presidency, the DSS, the military, police and in fact virtually in every key and important government institution in the country. Also, former president(s), some retired army officers, some northern elites and certain Emirs from the north were equally fingered as alleged sponsors of the plot.
DESERT HERALD has reliably gathered that an important document at the Maintenance Department reportedly requested by investigators, which would have assisted them to determine the identity of the culprits that carried out maintenance of the AC that day, is now missing. The book called maintenance register carries information on staff on duty, their movement on maintenance and the day they carried such routine checks. Certainly, if the information given above is true, someone has to be responsible for the missing register, while the SA Domestic and the CSO to the president would have a lot of explanations to give to investigators. The conspiracy theory has already been opened.
POLITICS
On the sideline, some politicians particularly two governors from the north and ironically all of them are very close to the president have started scheming and secretly lobbying to be considered for the exalted VP job in case the president did not make it. All their calculations and selfish permutations turned to rubbish as Buhari not only came back alive but with the determination to discharge the hectic job of the commander in-chief.
One of the said governors has been busy in Abuja over the weeks trying to repair a seemingly damaged relationship with the First Lady using contacts that are very close to the president so that he will be heard. Indeed there are a lot of lessons for the Katsina born retired general and from all indications the president is not willing this time around to be deceived by fake and mischievous loyalty.
WHY WE MADE SUCH SENSITIVE FINDINGS PUBLIC
DESERT HERALD is fully aware that there are certain pieces of information or news reporting, particularly on issues of national security or issues under investigation, that are not supposed to be made public at a given time even though media houses are constitutionally mandated to report, educate and enlighten the public.
At Editorial level we decided that this report may not be 100% accurate, (as NO news medium in the whole world can give 100% accuracy particularly on Investigative reports), must come out immediately because of some important reasons that are very dear to us. First is that the life of our president and mentor is seriously under threat and that we can categorically report that based on the facts at our disposal on the alleged poison conspiracy and it’s already devastating effect on Buhari’s health, his chances of survival are still not certain. Second, we feel the world should know that the president’s recent sickness may not be natural and may not be associated with his previous sickness and that if the content of this report is true all those identified must be punished according to the laws of the land.
As Buhari has officially resumed duties with the zeal and determination to deliver to the people that gave him so much, unfolding developments in the coming weeks or months will determine the strength of this report while we continue to debate on issues of his health and security, and why the presidency chose to remain silent on the alleged poison conspiracy
Source: Desert Herald
No comments