Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has blasted the Federal Government’s handling of the recent abduction and release of schoolgirls in Kebbi State. He recently warned that the freedom of the schoolgirls is not a security success but proof that terrorists now operate as an alternative government in different parts of the country.
In a press statement issued by his media office today, Atiku blasted the Special Adviser on Information and Strategy to the President, Bayo Onanuga, for describing the girls’ freedom as a security achievement.
According to him, FG’s remarks were a “shameful attempt to whitewash a national tragedy and dress up government incompetence as heroism.”
Questioning Onanuga’s claim that security agencies tracked the kidnappers in real time, he stated that such intelligence should have resulted in the arrest of the abductors, not negotiations.
“Truth be told, 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.
If, as Onanuga claims, the DSS and the military could ‘track’ the kidnappers in real time and ‘make contact’ with them, then the question is simple: Why were these criminals not arrested, neutralised, or dismantled on the spot? Why is the government boasting about talking to terrorists instead of eliminating them?” it read.
Atiku further noted that the constant mass abductions, ransom payments and peaceful exits for bandits prove that terrorists can always commit crimes across Nigeria and walk away untouched.
He concluded by saying that no serious nation will applaud itself for negotiating with criminals it claims to have under surveillance.
“Under Tinubu, terrorrist/bandits have become an alternative government — negotiating, collecting ransom, and walking away untouched — while the presidency celebrates their ‘compliance’.
No serious nation applauds itself for negotiating with terrorists it claims to have under surveillance. No responsible government congratulates itself for allowing abductors to walk back into the forests to kidnap again.
Onanuga and his ilk should stop insulting Nigerians with propaganda.
If the security agencies truly had eyes on the kidnappers, then letting them escape is a national disgrace that smacks of complicity.
At a time Nigerians need protection, the government is offering fairy tales by moonlight,” it added.
