PDP Accuses APC Administration of Failure to Tackle Banditry, Kidnapping

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Sunday decried the failure of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led All Progressives Congress (APC) administration to contain the incessant killings of vulnerable Nigerians by insurgents and bandits in Katsina, Sokoto, Zamfara, Borno, Kaduna, Kogi, Taraba State and other parts of the country. The PDP said it is greatly hurt by the horror, anguish, agony, torture and cruelty Nigerians 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 country, despite the huge resources it claimed to have spent. According to a statement issued by the National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, "Our party 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 our citizens with reckless abandon, raises a lot of questions." The party further noted that the frightening situation where bandits have reportedly taken control of some parts of the country and even grant permission and consent to residents before they can conduct weddings, naming ceremonies or operate their markets, is completely inexcusable. It declared that it is even more lamentable that the bandits had become so emboldened by the failure of the APC administration to the extent of holding the president’s home state, Katsina, to ransom. "Our party invites Nigerians to note that the APC has failed to account for the whereabouts of the political 'mercenaries' it imported into our country from neighboring countries, particularly from Chad and Niger Republic, to participate in its campaigns during the build-up to the 2019 general election," the spokesperson of the PDP stated. He urged Nigerians to recall that the PDP had cautioned on the perils of the importation of unscreened aliens by the APC to involve in its presidential election campaign rallies. Ologbondiyan said it had warned that such elements could be used to unleash acts of violence, including banditry against Nigerians, stating that the escalation of banditry since the 2019 elections therefore calls for a deep soul-searching by the APC and its leaders. Moreover, PDP said 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.