El-Rufai’s Son Apologises For Gang-Rape Threat

By Ayodele Oluwafemi

Bello El-Rufai one of the son of Nasir El-Rufai, Governor of Kaduna State, has apologized over his comments threatening to gang rape the mother of a Twitter user, on Sunday.

The comments generated social media storm as many Nigerians lambasted Bello for his assertion.

The controversy started when a Twitter user @thanos_zer commented on Bello El-Rufai post criticizing the handling of Coronavirus by Donald Trump, he tweeted, “How about the absentee president in Nigeria?.”

@thanos_zer wrote “I don’t shield anyone who’s inept. I can’t say the same about you. You’re Daddy’s boy and of course, nobody attacks the finger that feeds them. Buhari’s ineptitude is mind blowing. Yes I said and you’re not going to make me disappear.”

Replying to @thanos_zer tweet, Bello El-Rufai tweeted, “This Daddy’s boy has heard your mother ability to take dick is mind blowing. Especially one dipped in Kerosene from Abia land.

“Sounds about fair. Despite the ineptitude, he is completing a bridge your Ebele couldn’t. You are stuck with PMB and can’t do shit. How’s failed Daddy? Oh and tell your mother that I’m passing her to my friends tonight. No Igbo sounds please! Tueh.”

After the heated argument on Twitter, @thanos_zer posted a screenshot of a private message, Bello El-Rufai sent him.

In the private message sent by Bello El-Rufai, he threatened to gang rape, @thanos_zer’s mother.

Bello’s tweets drew the reaction of Mrs Oby Ezekwesili, ex-minister of Education, who asked him to apologize and retract his statement but it fell on deaf ears of Bello, who rejected the call of the ex-minister.

Initially, Bello’s mother, Mrs Hadiza El-Rufai declined to accept that his son deployed the use of vulgar and unworthy statements in his tweets, ignoring the call of Twitter users for her to scold her.

However, after some minutes, Mrs Hadiza apologized for her response and Bello’s tweets, noting that she did not see the entire tweets of his son before initially reacting.

The controversy caused by Bello’s tweets was ignited on Wednesday, when the Deputy Editor of Brittle Paper, Otosirieze Obi-Young, a literary magazine announced that he was forced out of the magazine due to his story on Bello and Hadiza El-Rufai tweets over the gang rape threat.

However, the Editor and Founder of Brittle Paper, Ainehi Edoro reacting to the exit of Otosirieze noted that the article entitled “Novelist & Feminist & Kaduna First Lady & Hadiza El-Rufai” has an “inflammatory and incendiary” title and was pull down because it did not meet the editorial standard of the organization.

Bello El-Rufai, in a statement, on his Twitter handle apologized for his comments.

Part of the statement reads, “A few days ago I made a comment that was wrong, unbecoming and contrary to the values on which I was raised. I wish to withdraw that statement and apologise to the gentleman concerned for the hurtful comment. I also apologise for appearing to attack an entire ethnic group for the misdeed of one person. I regret the sexual innuendo in the private message and apologise unreservedly for it. I wish to state very strongly that the statement was made during the heat of the moment and | wish to put on the record that I do not condone sexual violence.

“I certainly do not believe that there can be any justification for gender based crimes. I am learning from the episode in the continuous journey of emerging as a better person. I have apologised to my mother in person.

“I have also reached out to the women in my life and apologised. I realise that the intensity around this matter stems partly from my surname. The mistakes I made with the private message and in smearing an ethnic group because of one person are now being replicated by people that are attacking my parents and my family because of my conduct.”

The apology has also drew mixed reactions from Twitter users, some accepted the apology, while other rejected it on the basis that the apology is not genuine but was written as a result of the future presidential ambition of Nasir El-Rufai.

GreenwhiteGreen gathered the following tweets:

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