Senior aides to President Bola Tinubu and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar clashed publicly on X over a call to “shoot” highway vandals, with the exchange later devolving into a heated dispute over grammar.
A war of words erupted on X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday between Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser on Public Communication to President Bola Tinubu, and Phrank Shaibu, Senior Special Assistant to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, following a disagreement that spiralled from public policy into a debate over grammar. The exchange began after Onanuga reacted to reports of vandalism affecting ongoing rehabilitation work on the Ilesha–Ibadan Expressway, calling for drastic action against those sabotaging public infrastructure.
In a post on his verified X handle, @aonanuga1956, at about 8:09 a.m., the presidential spokesman wrote, “Just shoot these unconscionable vandals/thieves at sight. They are the worst species of citizenship.” Hours later, Shaibu responded via his handle, @phrankangel, condemning the statement as reckless and unlawful, arguing that no government official had the authority to advocate extrajudicial killings. “As a government spokesman, you cannot call for citizens to be ‘shot at sight.’ That is not law enforcement; it is lawlessness,” Shaibu said, adding, “Nigeria is not a killing field. Crimes are handled through arrest, investigation and the courts — not instant death orders from reckless statements.”
The exchange later took a personal turn when Shaibu returned to the thread at about 9:37 p.m., criticising what he described as a grammatical error in Onanuga’s post and insisting the correct expression was “shoot on sight,” not “shoot at sight,” while also warning that such rhetoric could be extended to protesters or critics. Onanuga responded the following morning, dismissing the criticism and insulting Shaibu, writing at about 9:12 a.m., “Foolish boy. Both usages are correct. Upgrade your grammar,” a claim Shaibu disputed in a lengthy reply, insisting that “shoot on sight” is a fixed idiom and not interchangeable with “shoot at sight.”