- Stop politicising kidnap victims’ pains, ex-lawmakers warn party
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has told the Federal Government that closing schools as a solution to the abductions of school children by bandits amounts to surrendering to the machinations of terrorist groups.
PDP’s National Publicity Secretary Tanimu Turaki, who was accompanied by the leader of a faction of the party, Ini Ememobong, said this while addressing reporters yesterday in Abuja.
The PDP chieftains said rather than close schools, the government should develop a comprehensive plan to combat the menace.
They urged the government to avoid what he called a simplistic approach of closing schools in a bid to prevent further kidnappings and to score cheap political points.
The PDP chieftains said the government should also seek local and foreign assistance in combating the activities of terror groups, adding that the PDP would be willing to help the government if it asks for such assistance.
Ememobong said: “…If the schools are closed, the goal of the terrorists would have been inadvertently achieved.
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“…We charge the Federal Government to immediately fund and implement the National Policy on Safety, Security and Violence-Free Schools anchored on community intelligence and quick security response, capable of anticipating and contending with attacks on schools. Insecurity in schools will be a big disincentivisation for education in the country, especially in Northern Nigeria.”
But the National Forum of Former Legislators (NFFL) warned the PDP against turning the nation’s security challenges, particularly the recurring school kidnappings, into tools for political attacks.
In a statement by its National Coordinator, Nnana Igbokwe, the forum expressed disappointment over recent remarks credited to the PDP on the Federal Government’s handling of abductions in parts of the country.
The statement said: “It is unfortunate that the PDP could turn an issue as sensitive as kidnapping into a political tool of attack just to score cheap political points.
“What is expected of any consciously reasoning citizen or responsible organisation is to proffer advice or meaningful solutions on how this cankerworm can be tamed.”
The NFFL accused the opposition party of exploiting national distress, warning that such rhetoric risks escalating tensions and undermining ongoing efforts to tackle criminality.
It urged the PDP to demonstrate restraint and patriotism by avoiding actions that “toy with the emotions of Nigerians” at a time many families are traumatised.