Parents of student arrested for saying Aisha Buhari ‘ate poor people’s money’ beg for forgiveness

Parents of Aminu Azare, a student of the Federal University, Dutse, who was arrested over his comment against the wife of President Muhammadu Buhari, Aisha Buhari, has called on the first lady to forgive and release their son.

Azare, a final-year Environmental Management and Toxicology student at the University, had alleged in a tweet that the first lady was feeding fat on poor people’s money.

Aminu Azare: We are pleading with Aisha Buhari, says arrested student’s uncle

Speaking on the development, the uncle of the arrested student, Shehu Baba-Azare, said the family are pleading with the president’s wife to forgive their son.

Baba-Azare said this in a report filed by BBC Hausa on Monday, November 28, Premium Times stated.

He said the family had no knowledge of the arrest until five days later when their son’s colleague told them he had not been seen for days.

“The father did not know of the arrest … The following morning on Monday, Aminu (Mr Azare) called his father through a security agent’s phone and informed him that he was being held in Abuja by security agents.

“He said he was taken to the State House, reprimanded and beaten in the presence of the wife of the president, before he was taken to an unknown location and locked.

“The father later informed me that the university management (Federal University Dutse) called to inform him that they were not aware of the arrest,” Baba-Azare was quoted as saying.

We are in a state confusion, says Baba-Azare

The uncle said the family has been thrown into a state of confusion with their son’s arrest.

“Of course, we are disturbed. There are instances of such arrests that are still unresolved. We’re pleading with her to forgive our son because she is a mother too. Let her forgive and forget. We’re pleading with her,” Baba-Azare said.

Aminu Azare’s arrest: Nigerians react

Walla Amos said on Facebook: “I used to respect the first lady because of her boldness and dodged headiness when it comes to saying the truth, but I’m highly disappointed in her for this single act.

“The boy expressed the reality of what was on ground out of frustration.”

Mansur Ahmed said: “Patience Jonathan earned my respect for being a real mother of the country.”

Obinna Oke said: “This is inhuman for God’s sake. We are in a democracy, not dictatorship. I pity the poor and helpless in Nigeria. More unfortunate because no prominent Northerner can speak for this poor boy.”

Sani Mustapha said: “PATIENCE JONATHAN showed motherly and grandma love to Nigerians. I remember her sweet response to those that made mockery of her”

Bukar Maisandari said: “It is very sad how social media is turning to an avenue of insulting, mocking and abusing leaders, all in the name of democracy and freedom of speech.

“Which kind of democracy or freedom of speech permits you to mock someone? We need strict laws that will control our social media platforms, some people should be banned from using social media by the law.”

The tweet that landed Aminu Azare in trouble

Azare had tweeted in June using the Hausa language that President Buhari’s wife had “eaten” the money of poor citizens and is full with it.

The tweet reads “Su mama anchi kudin talkawa ankoshi”. It is interpreted as “Mama has eaten poor people’s money and is now full”.