By Lateef Ibrahim, Abuja
The African Democratic Congress, ADC, has warned that if negotiation with bandits has become the government’s strategy for tackling insurgency, then Nigeria is on a dangerous and misguided path.
The party gave the warning on Wednesday in Abuja at a press conference addressed by its National Publicity Secretary Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi.
The coalition party described negotiation with bandit as the approach of an administration searching for shortcuts instead of confronting the problem decisively.
The ADC pointed out that by appeasing insurgents in this manner, the government is, in effect, expanding the banditry economy.
According to the ADC, “What the country is witnessing today is the consequence of an administration distracted by politics and behaving less like a democratic government and more like an occupying force.
“It is telling that it took a chastening comment from President Trump to provoke even the slightest response from our government.
“Yet, even as we welcome the safe return of the victims, we remain deeply concerned about the opaque and troubling manner in which their release was secured.
“The conflicting accounts coming from different government officials make it clear that the Federal Government is not being honest with Nigerians about the circumstances surrounding the release of the abducted victims.
“We strongly believe that this administration is negotiating deals with insurgents. It is especially alarming to hear the Inspector General of Police state that the perpetrators of the Kwara church attack were not arrested because: they came out voluntarily for the peace talk.
“Equally troubling is the comment attributed to the Presidential Spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, suggesting that the abductees were released simply because the government and security operatives“asked them nicely.
“This raises serious questions: Is the Nigerian government paying ransom to insurgents? What exactly was exchanged for the so-called “surrender of weapons” by the kidnappers?
“And if these bandits truly surrendered weapons, what prevents them from simply acquiring new ones and continuing their criminal enterprise, if they are not going to be arrested and brought to face justice?
“What happened to the people they shot and killed in cold blood? Where is justice for the families of those victims if their murderers are allowed to go scot-free because government needs a quick-win to celebrate?
“The ADC is deeply concerned that if negotiation with bandits has become the government’s strategy for tackling insurgency and the surge in kidnappings, then Nigeria is on a dangerous and misguided path.
“It is the approach of an administration searching for shortcuts instead of confronting the problem decisively.
By appeasing insurgents in this manner, the government is, in effect, expanding the banditry economy.
“Predictably, the bandits returned to the same Ekiti Local Government the very next day after the release of the churchgoers, abducting 11 more people in Isaac Community, Ekiti Local Government Area, of Kwara State.
“This pattern shows clearly that a system that focuses on “rescuing” victims without bringing perpetrators to justice only reinforces the vicious cycle of terror”, it said.
The ADC, nonetheless, rejoiced with the families and communities whose loved ones have been rescued from the recent wave of kidnappings across the country, including the worshippers abducted from Christ Apostolic Church (CAC), Oke-Isegun, Eruku, Kwara State, and the schoolchildren taken from Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School, Maga, Kebbi State.
“While we are delighted that these citizens can finally reunite with their families, we must reiterate our long-standing position that these abductions should never have occurred in the first place if the government were alive to its constitutional responsibilities”, it said.
The party faulted the decision of government to close down schools in the wake of the recent kidnapping, saying, “The more we capitulate, the more ground we lose as a nation. Every day that schools remain closed, terrorists grow bolder, communities grow more fearful, and Nigeria drifts further from the promise of security and stability”.
It pointed out that a country that cannot protect its children cannot protect its future.
The ADC thus urged the government to act decisively, transparently, and responsibly by reopening the schools and securing them.
