Atiku Condemns Government Negotiating The Release Of The Kidnapped School Girls With Terrorists Instead Of Arresting Them.
Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has condemned the Nigerian government over its handling of the recent Kebbi schoolgirls kidnapping, calling out the Bola Tinubu presidency for turning a national tragedy into a propaganda spectacle.
In a press release issued by his media office on Wednesday, Atiku criticised Bayo Onanuga, the Special Adviser on Information and Strategy to President Bola Tinubu, for describing the release of the abducted students as a “triumph.”
Onanuga had claimed on Arise News TV that the Department of State Services (DSS) and the military were able to track the kidnappers in real time and made contact with them.
Atiku called the remarks a shameful attempt to whitewash the government’s incompetence and questioned why, if security agencies were indeed monitoring the criminals, they were not apprehended or neutralised.
The statement read, “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?
“Why is kidnapping now reduced to a routine phone call between criminals and state officials?
“This irresponsible and reckless narrative exposes the truth: Under Tinubuterroristsst/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.”
Atiku stated that 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.
“And if they did not have such capacity, then Onanuga is simply manufacturing lies to cover up a monumental failure of leadership.
“Either way, the statement is an embarrassing admission that this administration has lost control of national security and is now trying to spin incompetence into achievement.”
Atiku added that Nigerians deserve protection, not fairy tales by moonlight!
Previously, SaharaReporters reported that the Bola Tinubu-led Presidency said the operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) and the military established contact with the bandits to secure the release of the 38 victims abducted from a church in Eruku, Ekiti Local Government Area of Kwara State.
Onanuga disclosed this on Monday during an interview on Arise Television, insisting that security agencies made direct contact with the kidnappers and demanded the victims’ immediate release.
According to Onanuga, the bandits complied because they understood the consequences of defying government orders.
“After the incident happened, the DSS and the military were involved in the rescue efforts. They got in contact with the bandits to release those people unharmed, and finally on Sunday they were able to get them out,” he had said.
