BY GRACE ANYANWU, ABUJA – The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Sunday took a critical look at the rising incidences of banditry in the country, saying that the President Muhammadu Buhari-led All Progressives Congress (APC) has failed to account for the whereabouts of the political ‘mercenaries’ it imported into the country from neighboring countries, particularly from Chad and Niger Republic, to participate in its campaigns during the build-up to the 2019 general elections.
The PDP said that it had cautioned on the perils of the importation of unscreened aliens by the APC to get involve in its presidential election campaign rallies.
The Party said that it warned that such elements could be used to unleash acts of violence, including banditry against Nigerians, stressing that the escalation of banditry since the 2019 elections, therefore calls for a deep soul-searching by the APC and its leaders.
It decried the failure of the President Buhari-led APC administration to contain the incessant killings of vulnerable Nigerians by insurgents and bandits in Katsina, Sokoto, Zamfara, Borno, Kaduna, Kogi, Taraba and other parts of the country.
The Party said that it is greatly hurt by the horror, anguish, agony, torture and cruelty Nigerian compatriots are facing in the hands of bandits, insurgents and kidnappers, following the failure of the APC administration to get its acts together, tighten the security architecture and secure the nation, despite the huge resources it claimed to have spent.
The Party in a statement by the National Publicity Secretary, Mr Kola Ologbondiyan, said it holds that the situation where marauders and insurgents, who had been pushed to the fringes by the PDP administration, had resurged under the APC, to the extent of occupying territories, ravaging communities and killing citizens with reckless abandon, raises a lot of questions.
The PDP further notes that the frightening situation where bandits have reportedly taken control of some parts of the nation and even grant permission and consent to residents before they can conduct weddings, naming ceremonies or operate their markets, is completely inexcusable.
According to the PDP; “It is even more lamentable that the bandits had become so emboldened by the failure of the APC administration to the extent of holding Mr. President’s home state, Katsina, to ransom.
“Moreover, some APC governors are reported to have had contacts, discussions and even negotiations with the bandits: a situation which also demands that the APC and such governors come clean on links with marauders.
“Furthermore, Nigerians have observed the failure of the APC, as a party, to raise a strong voice in giving its government, marching orders against banditry. The APC had not taken any decisive action or proffered any significant suggestion in the effort to secure our nation, beyond lame condolence messages to victims of the attacks,” it emphasised.
The PDP said that the time has come for the APC to define its stand on the issue of insecurity in Nigeria, particularly the call by well-meaning Nigerians on President Buhari to rejig the nation’s top security architecture and inject new blood into the system.
The Party said it weeps for the victims of the mindless attacks and restates its call on President Buhari to wake up from slumber and take conclusive steps, beyond speeches, to flush the bandits out of the nation.
