The Presidency has explained why the pigeons released by President Muhammadu Buhari during the Armed Forces Remembrance Day ceremony refused to fly.
Source reports that it is customary for the president to releases some white pigeons from a cage and immediately they fly away as a sign of peace.
But the birds refused flying when they were released with most of them sticking to the cage.
Buhari had picked one of the pigeons and threw it into the air but it fled back into the cage immediately.
Many Nigerians, who took to social media to comment on the incident, attributed the birds’ behaviour to the absence of peace and unity in the country.
But Buhari’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, in an article titled: “Reflections from a wreath laying ceremony”, said the pigeons could not fly because they have been kept in a cage for a very long time.
He said: “When birds and some other roaming animals have been circumscribed for a while, they get accustomed to their new status as lawful captives. Therefore, when you offer them freedom, they first baulk, thinking it’s too good to be true. It’s a natural phenomenon.
“President Buhari opened the cage that held the pigeons, about a score or so. One hesitated, then flew, followed by another.
“The others temporized a bit. And then, two, three minutes later, they all took to the sky. Nothing extraordinary in the development, you would think.”
