Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said it believes in the competence and capability of the armed forces to defend Nigeria against acts of terror just as it said the comments and actions of All Progressives Congress (APC) leaders since 2015 fueled terrorism in the country.
The opposition party which reacted to Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai’s call for use of mercenaries to address the banditry in the country, said his suggestion or threats to import foreign mercenaries is counter-productive and capable of compounding the already dire security situation in the country.
“They are only being encumbered by manifest complicity, conspiracy, incompetence and failure of the Security Command and Control Coordination structure of the APC administration,” PDP national publicity secretary, Hon Debo Ologunagba, said.
In a statement he issued yesterday in Abuja, Olgunagba said the alarming insecurity situation in Nigeria that has led to the killing and maiming of tens of thousands of “our compatriots since the APC took office in 2015 is the result of the actions and comments by APC leaders and government officials who encouraged acts of terrorism in the name of politics.”
Ologunagba said Nigerians can still recall how in July 2021, Governor El-Rufai, when asked why the federal government was lethargic in going after bandits (terrorists) stated that the bandits (terrorists) are collections of independent criminals for whom banditry is a business.
“Nigerians can also recall how ahead of the 2019 general elections, Governor el-Rufai threatened that “those that are calling for anyone to come and intervene in Nigeria, we are waiting for the persons that will come and intervene, they will go back in body bags”.
“The media was also awash with reports of how Governors of APC-controlled States, especially in the North West region of the country publicly romanced and empowered terrorists by paying them billions of naira of public funds in various hurried, uncoordinated and hazy negotiations.
“Nigerians have not forgotten how in November 2020 the Muhammadu Buhari Presidency through its spokesperson, Shehu Garba, rationalized the beheading of 43 rice farmers in Borno State by terrorists and blamed the farmers for not obtaining clearance before going to their farms.
“Such comments and actions by Governor el-Rufai, the Buhari Presidency and other APC leaders have the propensity to embolden terrorists to unleash violence on innocent people, the result of which are now apparent and living with us,” he said.