Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has firmly rejected calls for negotiations with bandits, asserting that Nigeria must take decisive action and seek international assistance to confront the escalating insecurity plaguing the nation.
Obasanjo made these remarks during the Plateau State Unity Christmas Carol and Praise Festival held in Jos, the state capital, on Friday. He urged the Federal Government to cease its apologies and negotiations with terrorists, especially in light of the recent surge in killings, abductions, and attacks on various communities in the North.
On November 21, a total of 315 students and 13 teachers were abducted from St Mary’s Catholic School in Papiri, Niger State, following the earlier kidnapping of 26 schoolgirls at the Government Girls Secondary School, Maga, in the Danko/Wasagu Local Government Area of Kebbi State on November 17.
In another recent attack, bandits targeted the Palaita community in Erena Ward, Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State, abducting 24 individuals, including pregnant women, from a rice farm. Additionally, around 20 persons were kidnapped in Kano and Kwara between Monday night and Tuesday morning.
This surge in violence comes just a day after 38 worshippers, abducted from the Christ Apostolic Church, Oke-Isegun, Eruku, Ikere, Kwara State, on November 18, were released following negotiations by the Federal Government with their captors. In the Tuesday incident, 10 individuals, including a pregnant woman, nursing mothers, and children, were reportedly taken in Isapa community, located just a few kilometres from Eruku, Kwara State.
At the Jos event, Obasanjo expressed his frustration over the deteriorating security situation, stating that Nigerians have the right to seek foreign intervention to compensate for what he described as the government’s failure to protect its citizens. “No matter what religion you belong to. No matter where you come from. No matter your profession, we Nigerians are being killed, and our government seems to be incapable of protecting us,” he lamented.
He further asserted, “We are part of the world community. If our government cannot do it, we have the right to call on the international community to do for us what our government cannot do for us.”
Obasanjo highlighted that, unlike during his tenure, modern technology now facilitates the identification and apprehension of terrorists. “Before I left the government, I knew we had the capacity to pick up anybody in Nigeria who commits crime anywhere. The capacity we didn’t have then was that after identifying and locating such a criminal, we couldn’t apprehend him without moving on land or by air,” he explained.
“Now we have capacity. With drones, we can flush them out. You can take them out. Why are we not doing that? Why are we apologising? Why are we negotiating?” he asked, emphasising the need for a more proactive approach to tackling terrorism in Nigeria.
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