Atiku Condemns Killings, Abductions In Benue, Kaduna, Borno

Former vice president Atiku Abubakar has condemned the recent killings and kidnappings in Benue, Kaduna and Borno states and charged security agencies to rise to the challenge and save innocent citizens from the horrors of banditry and terrorism in Nigeria.

In a statement reacting to the recent killings in Benue State and the kidnappings in Kaduna and Borno states, the former vice president said the  problem of insecurity in Nigeria was getting worse by the day.

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. Earlier in the week, it was reported that scores of women and children fetching firewood were abducted by gun-toting bandits suspected to be members of Boko Haram.

“It was also reported that over 200 people, mostly women and children, were abducted from the IDP camp in Ngala in Borno State. Just yesterday, scores of people were killed during a massacre at Wa-ndoo, a community in Mbalom, Gwer-East Local Government Area of Benue State.

“The cases are endless, and the problem seems interminable. 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.