Nigerian presidency denies London Telegraph's article

The Nigerian Presidency on Monday dismissed an article by the London-based Telegraph which claimed that President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration is targeting Christians and the opposition.

Presidential spokesperson Garba Shehu, in a statement issued in Abuja, described it as untrue and without foundation.

President Buhari had been treating all Nigerians equally irrespective of their religious or geo-political backgrounds, Shehu said.

"To suggest his government as deepening Muslim-Christian division is not only untrue, but plays into the hands of Boko Haram who wish to divide Nigerians along religious lines," he added.

He said fighting this group is key priority of President Buhari's Administration.

"Indeed the international community has widely acknowledged his determination to defeat terrorism in Nigeria and the entire Lake Chad Basin," he added.

The spokesperson also described as untrue the London Telegraph's article "Children Face Death by Starvation in Northern Nigeria" published on July 30, saying that this is as incorrect as it is unhelpful.

According to Shehu, the Nigerian government is in no position to divert aid monies used for emergency relief for refugees or IDP camps for any other purpose.

Shehu said the government was doing everything within its limited resources to address the medical, health and nutritional challenges in the IDPs, as the humanitarian situation in these camps is real.

The spokesperson, however, invited The Telegraph to visit Nigeria to witness first hand not only the challenges the country faces, but the administration's determination to confront them. Endit