Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has criticised the Federal Government over its handling of the recent abduction and release of schoolgirls in Kebbi State, cautioning that the incident does not reflect a victory over insecurity but rather highlights how terrorists increasingly function like an “alternative government” in some regions of the country.
In a statement released on Wednesday, Atiku faulted the comments made by the Special Adviser on Information and Strategy to the President, Bayo Onanuga, who described the girls’ release on Arise News as a security achievement. Atiku condemned the remarks as a desperate attempt to repaint a national tragedy and present government failure as heroism.
He challenged Onanuga’s assertion that security operatives were tracking the kidnappers in real time and had established contact with them, arguing that such claims raise even more troubling questions. If authorities truly had access to such intelligence, Atiku asked, why were the terrorists not apprehended or neutralised, instead of becoming negotiation partners.
According to him, the release of abducted citizens should not be celebrated as a victory—it is a stark reminder that terrorists move freely, negotiate openly, and dictate conditions, while the government resorts to statements aimed at saving face.
He insisted that no government should take pride in negotiating with criminals it claims to be monitoring, noting that the recurring pattern of mass abductions, ransom settlements and unhindered escape of bandits proves that terrorists now operate unchecked.
Under Tinubu’s leadership, he argued, bandits function like a parallel authority—demanding ransom, securing freedom and returning unchallenged—while officials applaud their cooperation. Any government that brags about watching terrorists rather than stopping them, he said, is either overwhelmed or complicit.
Atiku maintained that Nigerians deserve security, not “fairy tales by moonlight,” and urged the government to stop masking its shortcomings with propaganda.
The abduction, as earlier reported, took place on November 17 when gunmen attacked Government Girls’ Secondary School in Maga, killing a staff member and seizing 25 students; one managed to escape almost immediately, leaving 24 in captivity until they were freed on Tuesday. President Bola Tinubu, through a statement issued by Onanuga, welcomed their return and expressed relief that all missing girls were accounted for, while calling on security agencies to intensify efforts to rescue others still held by abductors across the country.
