The Peoples Democratic Party on Sunday in Abuja has warned the Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, that his threat to hire foreign mercenaries to combat terrorists in the North-West will only compound the security woes in the region.
In a statement signed on Sunday by its National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, the main opposition said the governor could not distance himself from the challenges allegedly caused by the All Progressives Congress, which he was part of.
The statement was titled ‘Foreign Mercenaries: APC leaders fuelled terrorism; PDP tells El-Rufai.’
The main opposition said it “wants Governor El-Rufai to know that his suggestion or threat to import foreign mercenaries is counter-productive and capable of compounding the already dire security situation in our country.
“The PDP believes in the competence and capability of our gallant Armed Forces to defend our nation.
“They are only being encumbered by manifest complicity, conspiracy, incompetence and failure of the Security Command and Control Coordination structure of the APC administration.”
It also argued that the expression of frustration and threats by Governor El-Rufai to invite foreign mercenaries is further confirmation and admission of the failure of the APC-led administration “in which he is a key player.”
It insisted that the one-time FCT Minister could not “distance himself from those responsible for fuelling and aiding insecurity which degenerated to acts of terrorism ravaging our nation today.”
The PDP maintained that the alarming insecurity in Nigeria that has led to the killing and maiming of tens of thousands of citizens since 2015 is the result of the actions and comments by APC leaders and government officials who encouraged acts of terrorism in the name of politics.
“Nigerians can still recall how in July 2021, Governor El-Rufai, when asked why the Federal Government was lethargic in going after bandits (terrorists), stated that the bandits (terrorists) are collections of independent criminals for whom banditry is a business.
“The media was also awash with reports of how Governors of the APC-controlled states, especially in the North-West region of the country, publicly romanced and empowered terrorists by paying them billions of naira of public funds in various hurried, uncoordinated and hazy negotiations,” the statement read.
The party also cited comments by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, after the beheading of 43 farmers in Borno State by terrorists in November 2020, in which he said the farmers did not obtain clearance before venturing to their farms.
“Such comments and actions by Governor El-Rufai, the Buhari Presidency and other APC leaders have the propensity to embolden terrorists to unleash violence on innocent people,” it said.
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