Joseph Bakare
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has advised President Muhammadu Buhari to terminate his “private visit” abroad and immediately return home to face the deteriorating security situation in the country.
In a statement by its spokesman Kola Ologbondiyan on Thursday, the PDP said it was completely unacceptable for President Buhari to “practically” abandon his responsibilities, as the Commander-In-Chief, at least for now, to pursue “unexplained” private matters in foreign lands.
The party argued that the President cannot be away while “bandits, marauders, and insurgents seize our nation; maim, kidnap and kill our citizens with reckless abandon”.
PDP stated that President Buhari’s inattention has emboldened insurgents and bandits to continue to over-run communities, unleash mayhem and bloodletting on citizens in Borno, Zamfara, Yobe, Adamawa, Gombe Taraba, Kaduna, Benue, Kogi and other states of the federation, including Mr. President’s home state, Katsina.
“While President Buhari wanders abroad, bandits are having a field day, pillaging communities in Katsina state; killing several persons and abducting the District Head of his hometown, Daura, Musa Umar; the father-in-law of Mr. President’s security aide.
Within this period, marauders invaded communities in Adamawa and killed no fewer that 26 innocent Nigerians; many more have been killed in Borno, Taraba, Benue, and Zamfara states, where bandits also reportedly attacked Government Girls Secondary School Moriki, and kidnapped some school girls.
“While the Buhari administration remains virtually nonchalant, kidnappers have taken over many of our major highways, with hundreds of compatriots held in captivity in forests along Kaduna-Abuja, Taraba-Katsina-Ala and other highways in the country.
“It is clear that President Buhari has not demonstrated the required capacity to control the security situation and now resorts to cheap escapism, particularly in the face of allegations in the public space that certain individuals around his administration are benefitting from the situation.
“This is in addition to allegations that some of the bandits arrested, in states such as Katsina, are not Nigerians but aliens allegedly imported by the All Progressives Congress (APC) from the Niger Republic to assist it in unleashing violence and rigging the 2019 general elections.
“The PDP urges the police to investigate this alleged links.”