The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has knocked the federation government, accusing it of paying ransom and negotiating with terrorists to free abductees from the criminals’ captivity.
At a media briefing on Wednesday in Abuja, the spokesman of the ADC, Bolaji Abdullahi, said the abductions shouldn’t have occurred in the first place if the government were alive to its constitutional responsibilities.
Taking a swipe at the Bola Tinubu administration, Abdullahi said, “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?”
Abdullahi argued that if the bandits had truly surrendered weapons, nothing would stop them from acquiring new ones and continuing their criminal enterprise if they were not arrested and brought to face justice.
The party spokesman questioned the equity, fairness and justice in the treatment of the terrorists compared with how their victims were being treated.
Continuing, he said, “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 the 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.”
The ADC further slammed the decision of the government to shut down its 47 secondary schools across the country, in response to the escalating abductions of schoolchildren, a measure some state governments have also adopted.
The party noted that while the government may consider the shutdown of schools the safest short-term option, it sends a dangerous message to the terrorists.
“A government that quietly negotiates with insurgents and then shuts down schools to avoid further kidnappings has, in effect, conceded ground to terror.
“By closing schools, the Tinubu administration is reinforcing the very ideology Boko Haram was built upon and signalling weakness where strength is required.
“This government is effectively telling the world that it cannot protect Nigeria’s schoolchildren or safeguard our public institutions. It is admitting that it can no longer take responsibility for the security of the children entrusted to its care.
“What we are witnessing is the creeping paralysis of our society and the gradual shutting down of our country. Terrorists are now dictating government decisions and reshaping the future of our children.
“What kind of nation abandons its children to kidnappers and then closes its schools in surrender? How long will we continue to keep our children at home? And by what measure will this government decide that it is finally ‘safe’ for them to return to school?”
The ADC said Nigerians, and even the Nigerian government, do not know the exact number of schoolchildren kidnapped in the past week.
“This alone is a damning indictment of an administration that claims to take the security of its citizens seriously. How can the number of abducted children, or those still in captivity, be the subject of confusion in a country facing a national security crisis?
“What is evident is that this government’s alarming incompetence has become a security threat in itself,” he said.
The party charged the federal government to immediately determine the precise number of schoolchildren being held captive following the recent abductions in Niger, Kebbi, and other states.
The ADC also tasked the government to inform Nigerians of the concrete steps it’s taking to secure their release, along with a clear timeline for action.
“These innocent children must not spend a day longer in captivity. The tragedy of the Chibok girls remains a deep scar on the nation’s conscience, a reminder of a country that failed its own daughters.
“History must not be allowed to repeat itself. The government must bring back our children now.
“Even more troubling is the government’s quiet abandonment of the Safe Schools Initiative and the Safe Schools Programme, both of which were designed to strengthen security around learning environments and prevent exactly the kind of mass abductions we are witnessing today.
“These programmes were not perfect, but they represented a commitment to protect children where they learn and grow. Today, that commitment has been discarded.
“The government must now choose leadership over fear. If schools have been shut because they are unsafe, then the logical response is not retreat but reinforcement.
“We call on the Federal Government to immediately deploy the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) to all Federal Unity Schools so that children can safely return to the classroom without further delay. Protecting our schools is not optional; it is a constitutional responsibility.
“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. A country that cannot protect its children cannot protect its future.
“The ADC urges the government to act decisively, transparently, and responsibly. Reopen the schools. Secure the schools. Bring our children home. And show Nigerians — and the world — that this nation will not bow to terror.”
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