The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has called on President Bola Tinubu to either seek help or resign following a surge in kidnappings and attacks targeting schoolchildren across northern Nigeria.

Speaking at a news conference in Abuja on Sunday, PDP National Publicity Secretary, Ini Ememobong, said recent abductions in Kebbi and Niger States, along with the attack on worshippers in Kwara State, highlight what he described as the Tinubu administration’s inability to manage the nation’s escalating security crisis.

Ememobong argued that the President has failed in his primary responsibility to protect citizens.

“We again remind the President, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and the entire APC-led administration that the security of lives and property is the primary function of any government,” he said.
“At any time government is unwilling, unable, or incapable of executing this primary role, such a government must either ask for help (locally or internationally) or honourably resign, if it is sincere and responsible.”

He also faulted the decision of federal and state authorities to shut down several schools in response to attacks, saying the move amounted to surrendering to terrorists.

According to him, it is alarming that despite multiple mass kidnappings in less than a week, the Federal Government has yet to provide a coordinated or decisive response. He described the presidency’s reaction as slow, unempathetic, and politically driven.

The PDP spokesman criticised President Tinubu for delegating the response to the Minister of State for Defence rather than personally visiting the affected communities.

“More troubling is the fact that when these unfortunate incidents happen, the administration’s response is usually lacklustre and unempathetic. Instead of the President visiting Kebbi and Niger States to meet and sympathise with the parents of the children who are in captivity, and to address the security personnel there, he merely directed the Minister of State for Defence to relocate to Kebbi,” he said.

Ememobong warned that school closures would deepen the education crisis in the North, where UNICEF reports that most of Nigeria’s 18.3 million out-of-school children live.

He urged the Federal Government to adopt a more decisive, humane, and coordinated approach to safeguarding schools and communities.