A fresh crisis on Monday erupted at President Muhammadu Buhari’s home as his wife, Aisha, battled the family of Mamman Daura, the President’s nephew.
Daura’s daughter, Fatima, in an interview with the BBC Hausa Service on Monday owned up to a video shot at the Presidential Villa.
In the video, the President’s wife, was heard asking questions and making comments about being locked out of a room and demanding that some people should pack their belongings and leave the apartment.
The First Lady and Fatima, in separate interviews with the BBC Hausa Service shed light on the video, which went viral on Friday.
Fatima in the interview said she shot the video with her phone “in case something happens.”
On her part, the President’s wife confirmed in a 25-second voice clip on the BBC Hausa Service website that she was the person in the video in question.
She accused Fatima of recording the incident while the security detail did nothing because the culprit was Mamman Daura’s daughter.
The first lady said, “I was the one in the video, those behind me were the security personnel given to protect me, but Mamman Daura’s daughter, Fatima, shot the video in the presence of security officials and everybody. She was laughing at me because my husband said they should vacate the place for my son to occupy.
“I wanted to pass through that door to go into a store but they closed the door. I took an alternative route but the door was still locked.”
But in her own account, Fatima said she recorded the incident to provide proof for her parents and security officials in an event “something happens.”
She noted that she was surprised by the President’s wife’s outbursts during the incident.
In a 27-second audio clip also posted on the BBC Hausa Service website, Fatima said, “Her comments frightened me. She was hurling insults and shouting that she had never seen anything like it.
“I went back and took my (mobile) phone because if you went and said she acted the way she did, nobody would believe you (without evidence).
“She was making a lot of noise saying she was being oppressed. I filmed the encounter to show our parents and security officials for them to see in case something happens. From the way she was screaming, I even thought she would pick up something to hit us or something like that.”
In a written excerpt of the interview also pasted on the website, Fatima was quoted as giving a background to the crisis.
According to her, the face-off happened within a building within the Villa called the Glass House.
Adding that it was one out of several apartments within the villa, she said the President gave her father the building when he was elected as President in his first term.
After describing how close her father and the President are, she said, “Our father stayed there for three years until when the President’s son, Yusuf, had an accident and went to Germany for treatment.
“When he returned, the President told our father to move out of that apartment to go to another apartment called “House 8” also within the villa; that Yusuf was going to stay to continue with his treatment in the Glass House.”
The Glass House where Mamman Daura and his family were living is nearer to where Aisha Buhari lives.
She further explained that her parents were out of Nigeria when all these happened but her father gave instructions that she and her elder sister should go on a Saturday to move their belongings following the President’s instructions.
She further explained that they were putting their things together when all of a sudden, she heard noises from outside.
Fatima was quoted as saying, “I was in an inner room while my sister was in an outer one which is nearer to the main entrance to the apartment.”
She said the outer door was locked with a key which she said was the usual practice when they were indoors.
“When Aisha came and found the door was locked, ‘she used an iron chair to force the door open.”
This, she explained, was why she decided to record the incident so as to have proof of what transpired.
