I’m preparation for presidential election slated for tomorrow, a man identified as Abubakar Shettima, living in Duala in Dogon Dutse, Jos North local government area of Plateau state, has relocated to his polling unit at Dogon Agogo where he is already queuing up.
59-year-old Shettima described the election as payback for regaining his freedom after being falsely accused of being a member of Boko Haram in 2015, he wants to be the first person to cast his vote for the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Muhammadu Buhari, Daily Trust reports.
It was gathered that Shettima has been sleeping at the polling station since leaving his home on Wednesday morning, February 13 and says he would be at that same spot until Saturday.
He said: “I have already sent my wife to Borno state, this morning (Thursday) to exercise her franchise while I have three children who are of age to vote. “Two of them are in Jos and would vote for Buhari on Saturday while the other is married in Maiduguri so it would be up to her husband.”
Shettima recalled how he and others were arrested unjustly in 2015 and accused of being Boko Haram members. He said they were made to go through harsh conditions before being released when investigations proved their innocence.
He said: “I was at the Bauchi motor park in Jos when they arrested me and other people, they moved us to Bauchi, then Yobe and Borno states where we were crammed in cells and ignored for months.
“But when President Buhari came to power, he visited the cells and seeing our conditions, instructed that we should be separated into 200 persons per cell and investigation into our arrest be carried out.”
He said they were released with an apology from the Borno state governor, after the investigations revealed their innocence.
He said: “Before we were asked to go, the governor of Borno state, Kashim Shettima, invited us and apologized on behalf of the government. We were each given N10, 000 and a brocade to return home.
“They told us that it was routine to make such arrests but that after investigations, those found to be innocent would eventually be released.
“So this is payback. If not for President Buhari, we would probably not have been released. I am committed to him; I have prayed about it and by Allah’s grace he would continue as the president of this country because the masses are solidly behind him. We know that his policies are targeted at ensuring a better life for us.”
