I was instructed to use ‘Biafran boys’, CCT spokesman Al-Hassan says

Code of Conduct Tribunal head of press Ibraheem Al-Hassan has blamed his principal Umar Danladi for his choice of words in the offensive statement released earlier in the week.

Al-Hassan on Tuesday released an error-ridden statement to debunk reports that Danladi assaulted a security guard at Banex Plaza, Wuse 2, Abuja.

Apart from his grammatical gaffe, there was an ethnic slur against the people of the Southeast Nigeria, calling those who rose in support of the security guard as “Biafran Boys”.

The profiling of those who gathered as “Biafran boys” in the error-ridden statement got a lot of attention on Twitter.

“There’s a problem with that statement. In fact, we are about disowning it. We want to retract the content because it was written under intense pressure,” Al-Hassan told The ICIR on Wednesday.

“I must confess to you, that is why there are many structural imbalances, language structure not being perfect and, again, some of the expressions used. I acted on instruction,” he added.

Danladi was captured on tape violently abusing a security guard at Abuja’s Banex Plaza, causing uproar on Twitter.

Al-Hassan said the guard was ‘rude,’ and the crowd gathering at the scene of the assault was made up of ‘Biafran Boys.’

He told The ICIR that he was under intense pressure when he issued the statement and that he did not take his time to edit it before sending it out to reporters.

“All the grammatical errors and what have you, were not noted. I did not proofread it, I was in the car when I composed it with my android (phone),” he said.

It was after it had gone out that he realised the statement was laced with errors, he added.

He added that he has been summoned by the Ministry of Information. Al-Hassan is a staff of the ministry but was deployed to work as public relations officer at the CCT. He has worked at the tribunal since 2013.

“I am now in my ministry as I speak with you. That is Ministry of Information,” he told The ICIR on Wednesday.

“There are series of issues in that place and I have been able to manage them. There has never been an issue with my statements,” he stated, adding that “as I am speaking with you, I am regretting my action.”