Former Nigerian Vice President and Chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has condemned the abduction of schoolchildren and educators in Ogbomoso, Oyo State, as well as the killing of several residents in Katsina State.
He described the incidents as evidence of what he called a “collapse of leadership” under the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Atiku in a statement issued on Tuesday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, expressed grief over the reported killing of one of the teachers kidnapped during the Ogbomoso incident, warning that worsening insecurity across the country had exposed deep cracks in the nation’s security framework.
“At a time when armed criminals are abducting schoolchildren, slaughtering innocent citizens, and turning communities into graveyards, President Tinubu’s response remains the same tired ritual: condemn the killings, threaten that the perpetrators will face the ‘full wrath of the law,’ and then wait for the next massacre,” the statement read.
“Nigerians have heard this script too many times. It has become painfully predictable and utterly meaningless. President Tinubu must stop governing by obituary statements. Enough of the recycled outrage. Enough of the empty threats. Nigerians are dying, and this government keeps responding with press releases”, he said.
Atiku said the recurring attacks on schools and communities across the country had emboldened criminal groups who now operate “with terrifying confidence.”
The ADC Chieftain added “A President who only finds his voice after blood has been spilt is not leading but presiding over failure,” Atiku stated.
“The horrifying abduction in Ogbomoso and the gruesome killings in Katsina are not isolated incidents. They are part of a grim national pattern in which criminals operate with terrifying confidence because they no longer fear the Nigerian state. When terrorists can invade schools, abduct children and teachers, butcher pregnant women, sack entire communities, and disappear without consequence, it is because the authority of the state has collapsed.”
