Kaduna Kidnap: PDP Decries Federal Govt Silence, Demands Safe Return Of Abductees

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has faulted the Federal Government’s silence and the outright denial by the Kaduna State Police and the Kajuru Local Government Chairman over the kidnapping of approximately 163 worshippers in the Kajuru community.

The party said those acts reflected a dangerous pattern recurrent in the course of this administration-the normalisation of insecurity and a deliberate attempt to obscure the truth from Nigerians.

The national publicity secretary of PDP, Comrade Ini Ememobong, who described the act as public betrayal and a failed attempt to cover up, said the Commissioner of Police and the Chairman of Kajuru Local Government Area must tender a public apology for their initial denial and failure to act.

Ememobong, in a statement, also said the federal government should immediately deploy a high-powered security team to trace, rescue, and safely return these kidnapped Nigerians to their homes and families.

The party spokesman recalled that when news of this mass abduction first emerged, the Commissioner of Police Muhammad Rabiu did not just deny that it happened but recklessly dismissed it as the work of mischief makers, peddled by “conflict entrepreneurs”.

“He then had the audacity to demand details of victims. The Kajuru Local Government Chairman similarly denied that any kidnap incident occurred within his jurisdiction.

“These denials are deeply hurtful, not only because they are evidently false, but because they reveal the manifest levity with which this administration treats serious matters like security. What makes this even more painful is that, according to the villagers, the police were immediately alerted when the kidnapping occurred.

“They had the opportunity to act. Instead, they chose denial, prioritising the government’s image over the lives of 163 Nigerians,” PDP said.

The party added that since the police eventually accepted the reality of the sad incident, after the residents and the Christian Association of Nigeria provided the names of those kidnapped, the Commissioner of Police and the Chairman have been silent, without offering any apologies for their irresponsible conduct and failure to protect the people.

The party urged the administration to abandon performative governance that prioritises optics over substance, adding that the business of government is solving problems, not winning applause.

“One hundred and sixty-three families are waiting. They deserve action, not excuses,” the opposition party said.