…condemns killings in Benue, abductions in Kaduna and Borno
BOMA DIPRIYE
NIGERIA: Former vice president of Nigeria, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has decried the worsening security challenges in the country with its attendant effects of killings, abductions and displacement of Nigerians.
He said the country has become one of the most terrorised territories on earth, as insecurity is getting worse by the day.
In a statement issued by his media office on Friday, Atiku said: “the media has been awash with terrifying news of banditry, kidnapping, and bloodletting that has turned our country into perhaps one of the most terrorised territories on earth.
“Within one week, there have been many reported cases of mass abduction of hapless citizens in the Northwest, Northeast and North-central regions of our country. In the early hours of Thursday, school children numbering over 280, together with their teachers, were abducted in Kunga, Kaduna State, by bandits riding on motorcycles, without any challenge by security agencies.
“Earlier in the week, it was reported that scores of women and children fetching firewood were abducted by gun-toting bandits suspected to be members of Boko Haram. It was also reported that over 200 people, mostly women and children, were abducted from the IDP camp in Ngala in Borno State. Just yesterday, scores of people were killed during a massacre at Wa-ndoo, a community in Mbalom, Gwer-East Local Government Area of Benue State.
“The cases are endless, and the problem seems interminable. The APC-controlled government has failed woefully to give the people the basic things expected of a responsive government. It is a clear manifestation of the failure of governance.
“The government has continued to play the ostrich while the nation is plagued by insecurity. While the weak and vulnerable are neglected, the government is making empty rhetoric about reforms. And while our young men are abducted, killed, or conscripted into the army of the terrorists and our women and girls are ravished and subjected to different forms of gender-based violence, the authorities do nothing.”
Atiku said these are non longer acceptable as it is in negation of the constitutionally guaranteed commitment that the security and welfare of citizens is the primary responsibility of government.
Standing in solidarity with fellow citizens and sympathising with the victims and their families, he urged the security agencies to rise up to the challenge and save innocent citizens from the horrors of banditry and terrorism.
