President Bola Tinubu has been criticized by former vice president Atiku Abubakar for the nation’s security state, namely the ongoing kidnappings that are occurring all throughout the country.
In the 2023 presidential contest, Atiku ran against Tinubu and demanded that the president resign if he was unable to address the nation’s growing level of insecurity.
Wrong Timing For a President to Travel
“The president was able to summon the bravery to leave the nation and go on a private visit to France, according to the former vice president, despite the growing number of situations of insecurity.”
According to Atiku, the nation does not require a second ‘Tourist-in-Chief.’ “On Wednesday of last week, Tinubu left Abuja for a private visit in Paris, France.”
The information was disclosed by Ajuri Ngelale, his special assistant on media and publicity, in a statement headed “President Tinubu travels to France.”
In addition the Labour Party and the Peoples Democratic Party had demanded an explanation for what the administration had called a private visit.
According to Ibrahim Abdullahi, the deputy national publicity secretary for the PDP, “Tinubu chose the worst possible time to travel abroad because of the country’s economic situation and level of insecurity.”
This came as Yunusa Tanko, the spokesperson for the LP 2023 Presidential Campaign Council, said that the President was ill and suggested that the trip had a secret objective.
According to Atiku, “Nigeria requires an engaged leader to combat insecurity in light of the visit and the recent spate of kidnappings in the country.
“While Nigeria is drowning in an ocean of insecurity, Tinubu is fiddling around.
“Imagine, among other frequent tragedies plaguing Nigerians, that the Commander-in-Chief is on a supposedly private vacation while kidnappers murder two monarchs in Ekiti and a nursing mother and grandmother in Abuja for not paying a N90 million ransom.
“Emilokan should move aside if his shoes are too big. Another tourist in chief is not what Nigeria needs.”
In a post on his X account on Tuesday, Atiku stated, “To address the widespread insecurity and collapsing economy, the country needs 24/7 leadership.”
Jerrymusa.com reports that fearless kidnappers have persisted in causing havoc on citizens across the nation in violation of security protocols implemented to address the problem of kidnapping for ransom, which has recently reached the scale of business dealings.
For example, on Friday night, three inspectors of the riot police were abducted in the Ohoror community, which is located off the East-West Road in the Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta State.
On Saturday, gunmen abducted Alhaji Akeem Akintola, the Chairman of the Tipper, Lorry, and Quarry Park Management System in Oyo State.
Similar to this, on Saturday, Prof. Godwin Emezue, the deputy vice chancellor of Abia State University, Uturu, was kidnapped from a gas station in Umuekwule, Amachara, a village in the state’s Umuahia South Local Government Area.
Also, on Monday, two people were killed by gunmen thought to be kidnappers along the Ipao-Oke Ako Road in Ekiti.
Under the auspices of the Civil Society Joint Action Group, civil society organizations said that 17,469 Nigerians had been kidnapped between 2019 and 2019 by the governments of Muhammadu Buhari and Bola Tinubu.