Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Wednesday said his comment while receiving the United States Special Envoy on Counter Terrorism Communication, Rashad Hussain, in Abuja on Monday was taken out of context.
The Vice President was quoted to have said wealthy individuals were being enlisted into terrorism.
Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, in a statement made available to journalists, said Osinbajo did not mention “rich Nigerians” in his comment.
Akande said, “Comments of the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo (SAN), in the above titled press release were taken out of context by some of the papers and some of the reports are misleading.
“There was no mention of ‘Rich Nigerians’ anywhere in the release as some media reported. There was no reference to Nigerians at all. Also the Vice President was not raising any alarm of any kind.
“The Vice President was talking about the mindless ideologies of violent extremism and terrorism, and not about mindless people as some of the reports stated.
“He said such ideologies drew different people including those who were lured into terrorism with money and those who are well-to-do.
“This clarification is to set public records straight.”
Akande had in a statement on Tuesday quoted Osinbajo as saying that “I have seen people who are well-to-do being recruited into terrorism.”
