African Democratic Congress (ADC) has accused the Federal Government of striking deals with bandits, insisting that such an approach defies all known global strategies in the fight against insurgency.
The party also rejoiced with families and communities, whose loved ones were rescued from kidnappers across the country. Worshippers were abducted from Christ Apostolic Church (CAC), Oke-Isegin, Ebruku, Kwara State and schoolchildren were taken from the Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School, Maga, Kebbi State.
Speaking to journalists at the party secretariat in Abuja yesterday, the National Publicity Secretary of the ADC, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, said conflicting accounts from different government officials clearly showed that the Federal Government had not been honest with Nigerians about the circumstances surrounding the release of the abducted victims.
He said: “While we are delighted that these citizens can finally reunite with their families, we must reiterate our long-standing position that these abductions should never have occurred in the first place if the government were alive to its constitutional responsibilities. What the country is witnessing today is the consequence of an administration distracted by politics and behaving less like a democratic government and more like an occupying force. It is telling that it took a chastening comment from President Donald Trump to provoke even the slightest response from our government.”
Describing the release of the kidnapped as a welcome development, the ADC maintained that it was deeply concerned about the opaque and troubling manner in which their release was secured.
Responding to the closure of about 47 unity schools across Nigeria on account of the kidnapping of students and theshutdown of the same by the various state governments, the opposition party said, “While the government may consider this the safest short-term option, it sends a dangerous message to the terrorists. A government that quietly negotiates with insurgents and then shuts down schools to avoid further kidnappings has, in effect, conceded ground to terror. By closing schools, the Tinubu administration is reinforcing the very ideology Boko Haram was built upon, and signalling weakness where strength is required.
“This government is effectively telling the world that it cannot protect Nigeria’s schoolchildren or safeguard our public institutions. It is admitting that it can no longer take responsibility for the security of the children entrusted to its care,” it said.
The party said it was troubled that the government had abandoned the Safe Schools Initiative and the Safe Schools Programme, both of which were designed to strengthen security around learning environments and prevent exactly the kind of mass abductions being witnessed today.
