‘Your government has lost control of national security’, Atiku tells Tinubu

• Claims terrorists/bandits have become alternative govt

By Lateef Ibrahim, Abuja

Former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has said that the administration President Bola Tinubu has lost control of national security, while it is now trying to spin incompetence into achievement.

Atiku pointed out that under President Tinubu, terrorists/bandits have become an alternative government, negotiating, collecting ransom, and walking away untouched, while the presidency celebrates their “compliance.”

The former Vice President said this on Wednesday in reaction to the comment made by the Special Adviser on Information and Strategy to President Bola Tinubu, Bayo Onanuga’s on Arise News TV Wednesday on the freedom of the Kebbi school girls.

Onanuga, according to the Arise TV news, had claimed that the DSS and the military could “track” the kidnappers in real time and “made contact” with them.

However, the former Vice President described the statement by Onanuga as a shameful attempt to whitewash a national tragedy and dress up government incompetence as heroism.
Nigerians, he pointed out, deserve protection, not “fairy tales by moonlight”.

The statement by Atiku, who now a chieftain of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, reads, “The Special Adviser on Information and Strategy to President Bola Tinubu, Bayo Onanuga’s comments on Arise News TV yesterday (Tuesday) on the freedom of the Kebbi school girls is to say the least a shameful attempt to whitewash a national tragedy and dress up government incompetence as heroism.

“Truth be told, the release of abducted Nigerians is not a trophy moment; it is a damning reminder that terrorists now operate freely, negotiate openly, and dictate terms while this administration issues press statements to save face.

“If, as Onanuga claims, the DSS and the military could “track” the kidnappers in real time and “made contact” with them, then the question is simple: Why were these criminals not arrested, neutralised, or dismantled on the spot?

“Why is the government boasting about talking to terrorists instead of eliminating them?

“Why is kidnapping now reduced to a routine phone call between criminals and state officials?

“This irresponsible and reckless narrative exposes the truth:

Under Tinubu, terrorrist/bandits have become an alternative government — negotiating, collecting ransom, and walking away untouched — while the presidency celebrates their “compliance.”

“No serious nation applauds itself for negotiating with terrorists it claims to have under surveillance. No responsible government congratulates itself for allowing abductors to walk back into the forests to kidnap again.

“Onanuga and his ilk should stop insulting Nigerians with propaganda.

If the security agencies truly had eyes on the kidnappers, then letting them escape is a national disgrace that smacks of complicity.

“And if they did not have such capacity, then Onanuga is simply manufacturing lies to cover up a monumental failure of leadership.

“Either way, the statement is an embarrassing admission that this administration has lost control of national security and is now trying to spin incompetence into achievement.
“Nigerians deserve protection, not fairy tales by moonlight”, Atiku concluded in the statement.