Zaria Drama: Boy Who Tugged At Speaker Abbas’ Agbada On Podium Breaks Silence

By Rotela Oguns

A random boy who appeared to have attempted to pull off the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen from a podium in a viral video has broken his silence hours  after the incident.

The boy who identified himself as Ahmad Saidu, and  popularly known as Abba by his friend noted that he didn’t intend to harm or embarrass Abbas by tugging at his attire  during a recent political event in Zaria.

The event took place at Mallawa Eid Ground, Zaria. on Saturday during the declaration for re-election by Abbas

Speaking. to journalists about the incident on Monday, Saidu disclosed the motive behind his action stressing that his intention was to gain the speaker’s attention and possibly get financial support from him.

Saidu noted that he sustained a serious fracture on his right hand in an accident, leaving the hand broken in three different places.

While recounting his traumatic experience after the accident, Saidu stated that efforts to get healed completely had been unfruitful due to lack of adequate financial support.

He said he had earlier received treatment at the Traditional Orthopaedic Centre, Likoro, Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, before he was referred to the 44 Nigerian Army Reference Hospital, Kaduna.

Saidu explained that financial difficulties prevented him from continuing with the treatment after support from some individuals stopped.

“We could not continue with the treatment because we cannot afford the medical bills after the support we received stopped,” he said.

He added that after learning the Speaker would attend the declaration event, he decided to go there in the hope of personally appealing for assistance.

“As one of the supporters of the Speaker, I went to the event hoping to seek his help. When I got close to him, I held his gown while trying to show him my fractured hand, but security personnel dragged me away,” he said.

“If I had known the incident would cause such national embarrassment to the Speaker, I would have preferred to continue living with the pain.

“I am one of his supporters and I appreciate the interventions and assistance he has been rendering to people, which prompted my action,” Saidu  added.

Speaking in a similar vein, Saidu’s father expressed disappointment over the haste with which the opponents of the speaker exploited the incident to score cheap political points

He said the family had struggled for more than two years to fund treatment both at ABUTH and the 44 Army Reference Hospital in Kaduna but could no longer cope with the expenses.

While apologizing to Abbas, Saidu’s fathe commended the Speaker for agreeing to shoulder the medical bills of his son despite the incident at the event venue.