Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has condemned the abduction of schoolchildren and teachers in Ogbomoso, Oyo State, and the killing of residents in Katsina State, including a pregnant woman, saying the incidents reflected worsening insecurity under the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
In a statement issued on Tuesday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku described the incidents as evidence of what he called a collapse of leadership and security across the country.
He expressed sadness over reports that one of the teachers abducted during the Ogbomoso incident had been killed, adding that the recurring attacks showed that criminal groups were operating without fear of consequences.
According to him, the Federal Government had continued to respond to attacks with “condemnation statements” and promises that perpetrators would face the full wrath of the law, without taking decisive measures to prevent further violence.
“At a time when armed criminals are abducting schoolchildren, slaughtering innocent citizens and turning communities into graveyards, President Tinubu’s response remains the same tired ritual: condemn the killings, threaten that the perpetrators will face the ‘full wrath of the law,’ and then wait for the next massacre,” he said.
He added that repeated official reactions to insecurity had become “painfully predictable and utterly meaningless,” urging the President to move beyond what he described as “obituary statements.”
Atiku also alleged attempts to suppress images and reports of the attacks from reaching the public, warning that any effort to censor evidence of mass killings would amount to “cruelty of the highest order.”
“No serious government hides the blood of its citizens to protect political optics,” he said.
The former vice president said the incidents in Oyo and Katsina were part of a broader pattern of insecurity in which armed groups attacked communities, abducted victims and escaped without consequences.
He called for the immediate rescue of the abducted victims in Oyo State, stronger security operations in vulnerable communities and a comprehensive overhaul of the country’s security architecture.
