By Joseph Chukwuemeka Ayo
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar suggests that worsening poverty and hunger are the driving factors behind the increasing spate of insecurity across the nation.
Making this claim in a tweet via his official X account on Monday, Atiku, who contested the 2023 presidential election on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said that the failure of the federal government to protect lives and properties was strengthening the activities of kidnappers and other criminal elements.
Atiku wrote, “The escalating violence and lawlessness in our nation deeply distresses me as bandits and kidnappers continue their reign of terror unchecked. Our youths and innocent citizens are being murdered daily. Just last Saturday, we lost Nabeeha to her captors. Yesterday, the tragedy deepened with the murder of more victims, including Folorunsho Ariyo, a 13-year-old student. Folorunsho was one of ten people kidnapped from Sagwari Estate Layout in Dutse, Bwari Area Council of the FCT, on January 7th, 2024.
“It is obvious that the worsening poverty and hunger in the land is escalating the level of kidnapping and insecurity in Nigeria, particularly in Abuja, the federal capital.
“When the government fails to fulfil its constitutional obligations of protecting the lives and property of citizens, it is an invitation to kidnappers and other criminal elements to have a free rein visiting houses and hotels in and around the capital city, kidnapping citizens without resistance. This is a sad development.
“It is imperative that the authorities address this dire security situation urgently to regain the trust of the Nigerian people.
“While I mourn with the deceased families, I pray to the Almighty to comfort them, grant the dead eternal peace and protect our nation.”
His comment comes amid the recent rise in the spate of kidnapping and bandit attacks in various regions across the country.
The New Diplomat recalls that gunmen on January 5 2024 invaded the residence of the family in the Zuma 1 area of Bwari and abducted six sisters, including their father.
However, Nigerians were enraged after the abductors killed Najeebah, one of the six sisters, over the weekend.
It was learned that the gunmen had earlier freed their father and instructed him to go obtain N60 million as payment before Friday, January 12, to free his girls
