*Urges President to expedite action on safe release of abducted school children, teachers in Oyo, Borno
Former Vice President of Nigeria and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has called on the Federal Government to expedite action on the safe release of school children abducted in Oyo and Borno states.
No less than 42 schoolchildren were kidnapped on May 15 in terrorist raids in Government Day Secondary School, Mussa Central Primary School, and the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) Secondary School in Mussa town, Askira-Uba Local Government Area of Borno State. On the same day, over 40 students and teachers were also mass abducted from Community High School, Ahoro-Esiele; Primary School, Esiele; and Yawota Baptist Nursery and Primary School, all in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo state. A teacher was beheaded in a gruesome manner. Meanwhile, the abducted school children spent Children’s Day in detention on Thursday while the Tinubu-led All Progressives Congress administration continues to make empty promises.
But the ADC Presidential candidate in a statement on Thursday expressed deep concern to the worsening insecurity in the country, stressing that it poses a direct threat to our education system and makes a mockery of the so-called Safe Schools initiative.
Atiku expressed embarrassment at the frequency with which terrorists are threatening citizens with impunity without an appropriate response by the government.
While noting that the primary responsibility of any government is the security and welfare for the governed, Atiku urged Tinubu to step down from office in the interest of Nigerians.
“President Tinubu has no moral or political latitude to stay in Aso Villa a day longer if tens of hundreds of abducted citizens languish in captivity across the country.
“What type of government will allow non-state actors to turn its national territory into killing fields and a haven for kidnapping and extortion?” the Waziri of Adamawa queried.
According to Atiku, security should not be treated as a political slogan and that the citizens can only be impressed by prompt and effective response to security challenges.
He explained that when you allow terrorist abductions to drag on, it creates incentives for future attacks on schools by criminal elements.
“Impunity makes the terrorists bolder and more determined to carry out future attacks. The citizens look up to the government for urgent and prompt interventions to banditry and terrorist attacks,” Atiku said adding that “the government must project confidence in the minds of the citizens that it is capable of protecting them at all times.”
The former Vice President said pointedly that official condemnations of terrorist abductions is not enough, if it is not followed up with prompt rescue action.
Meanwhile, Atiku regrets the delay in our criminal justice system in which terrorism trials drag on endlessly.
“We urgently need special courts to speed up the trial of terrorists and bandits in the country. In addition, the death penalty must be applied to terrorism offences in the country. But the death penalty itself cannot be effective if the government lacks the political will to promptly sign the death warrants for convicted terrorists,” he said.
