Complainants In Certificate Suit Against Buhari Allege Threat To Life

The complainants who filed a suit against the presidential candidate
of the All Progressives Congress, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.),
on Tuesday alleged threat to their lives by unknown persons.

They filed a direct criminal complaint against Buhari before a Federal
Capital Territory Magistrate's Court in Abuja, asking the court to
direct that the former Head of State "be brought to book" for
allegedly claiming on oath that he had a certificate he did not
obtain.

They addressed journalists at their lawyer's office in Abuja on
Wednesday. But they said they had yet to report the case to the
police.

They also declined to supply details of the telephone calls and text
messages through which the threat was allegedly issued, as it could
compromise the police investigation when the matter is reported.

The four complainants are Shield Ufot, Jimmy David, Ogueri Enwerem and
Tochukwu Okorie.

Ufot said on Wednesday that the suit was filed on behalf of the Niger
Delta Salvation Front.

Speaking on behalf of his clients, their lawyer, Ezekiel Ugochukwu,
said the threat would not deter them from pursuing the case to
conclusion.

He said, "As you already know, my clients filed a direct criminal
complaint at the Magistrate's Court of the FCT to bring Gen. Muhammadu
Buhari to book in respect of criminal action of deposing to an
affidavit on oath which obviously turned out to be false.

"Since we filed that suit, we have received a lot of threats from
different angles, demanding that we withdraw the suit or face severe
consequences.

"We are not deterred and we will never be deterred. As we said before,
if it is to shut us up that they sent threat to us, they have failed.
We are facing the issues as they are. And it is for the good of our
country."

Ufot, while fielding questions from journalists, said he had received
threat through telephone call and text message twice.

He said his co-complainants were preparing to report the threats to the police.

He also reiterated their readiness to pursue the case to the Supreme Court.

Ufot said, "We really want to stop him from attempting to occupy the
highest office in our country. Buhari did not have any certificate. He
did not write the school certificate examination in 1961. If he did,
it is not the school principal that issues certificate. It is
Cambridge /WASC that issues certificate. We challenge him to come up
with a certificate, not a bogus paper from any village headmaster. And
we are determined to take this case to even the Supreme Court."
--PUNCH