In a veiled criticism of Buhari administration’s strategy of ransom for freedom, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar on Wednesday said Nigeria must stop rewarding criminality, warning that doing so will result in more crimes being perpetrated.
In a statement he personally signed, Abubakar lamented the deteriorating state of insecurity in the country, describing the menace as alarming.
While noting that a situation whereby children and minors were being kidnapped, the ex-vice president asked the Federal Government to tackle cases of abductions by ending what he calls the reign of impunity.
“Now is not the time for fingers to point in blame. Our nation needs solutions. And we have now seen that paying ransoms, and allowing criminals to profit from their criminality is not a solution,” he said.
“When you reward crimes, the end result is more crime. The only long-term solution to the insecurity challenge Nigeria is facing is to end the reign of impunity.
“The Federal Government must enforce the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria against abductions and kidnappings, by apprehending the criminals, trying them, and making an example of those convicted, to serve as a deterrent to others.”
He also called for the protection of schoolchildren in the affected states, asking the Nigerian government to deploy all-around security personnel.
The ex-vice president said if it is “not feasible to have armed military guards in all schools, then each state, should, as a matter of urgency replicate the Civilian Joint Task Force idea, that has worked so well in Borno and deploy them to each school, along with men of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps.”
His remarks come hours after gunmen stormed Government Science College Kagara in Rafi Local Government Area of the state, killing one student ad abducting several others.
