.. condemns killings in Benue, abductions in Kaduna and Borno
Atiku
The problem of insecurity in Nigeria is getting worse by the day, former Vice President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar has said.
He 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 terrorized 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,” he said.
Referencing other reports about the abduction of scores of women and children fetching firewood were abducted by gun-toting bandits suspected to be members of Boko Haram in Borno state and the killing at Wa-ndoo, a community in Mbalom, Gwer-East Local Government Area of Benue State, Abubakar said the these cases are indications that 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. This is in negation of the constitutionally guaranteed commitment that the security and welfare of citizens is the primary responsibility of government.
“I stand in solidarity with my fellow citizens and sympathise with the victims and their families. I urge the security agencies to rise up to the challenge and save innocent citizens from the horrors of banditry and terrorism,”
