Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has criticized the Federal Government, arguing that the recent release of the abducted Kebbi schoolgirls should not be celebrated as an achievement but rather exposed the nation’s worsening security crisis, where terrorists operate with impunity.
Atiku dismissed the government’s narrative surrounding the release, in a statement released on Wednesday, as a shameful attempt to whitewash a national tragedy.
The 24 schoolgirls were abducted from the Government Girls’ Secondary School in Maga, Kebbi State, on November 17, following an attack that resulted in the death of a staff member.
Bayo Onanuga stated that while security forces knew the location of the kidnappers, launching a military offensive was deemed too risky due to the terrorists’ tactic of using the abducted girls as shields. In order to avoid collateral damage, he argued, necessitating the non-kinetic approach.
Atiku dismissed Onanuga claims, stressing that if the DSS and the military could ‘track’ the kidnappers in real time and make contact with them, then Why were they not arrested, neutralised, or dismantled on the spot
Atiku argued that the repeated cycle of negotiation and the abductors walking away untouched means terrorists and bandits have become an alternative government, negotiating, collecting ransom, and walking away untouched.
The release of abducted Nigerians is not a trophy moment; it is a damning reminder that terrorists now operate freely, negotiate openly, and dictate terms while this administration issues press statements to save face
He stressed that the government’s failure to capture or eliminate the criminals, despite claiming to track them, is evidence of incompetence or complicity. Celebrating a negotiated release only emboldens the terrorists to kidnap again, granting them impunity.
Leave a comment