Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has strongly criticised the Federal Government’s handling of the release of abducted schoolgirls in Maga, Kebbi State, warning that the development is not a moment for celebration.
In a statement issued on Wednesday through his media office in Abuja, Atiku took aim at comments made by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser on Information and Strategy to the President, during his appearance on Arise News. He described Onanuga’s remarks on the girls’ freedom as “a shameful attempt to whitewash a national tragedy and dress up government incompetence as heroism.”
The PDP presidential candidate in the last election said 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.”
Atiku questioned the Federal Government’s claims about the security operation behind the girls’ release.
“If, as Onanuga claims, the DSS and the military could ‘track’ the kidnappers in real time and ‘made 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?” he said.
He further expressed concern that kidnapping in Nigeria has now been reduced to a “routine phone call between criminals and state officials.”
Atiku, who recently joined the coalition African Democratic Congress (ADC), accused the Tinubu administration of enabling criminal groups through weak security responses.
“Under Tinubu, terrorist/bandits have become an alternative government negotiating, collecting ransom, and walking away untouched while the presidency celebrates their ‘compliance’,” he said.
He maintained that no serious country celebrates engaging 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. 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.
