Atiku laments Sokoto killings, says Nigerians need action, not bulk passing

THE Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, ‎Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has lamented the worsening state of insecurity in the country and called on the government to show more results in its responsibility to protect the people instead of blaming opposition politicians for its own failures.

Reacting to the latest killing of scores of people in Gandi District of Rabah local government of Sokoto State, in a statement made available to new men in Abuja yesterday by his Media Adviser, Elder Paul Ibe, Atiku said he was disturbed by the uncontrolled violence by bandits who continue to kill poor villagers with impunity.

According to him, “I am genuinely concerned about the large scale losses of lives in Sokoto, Zamfara and other states under siege by bandits, and I totally condemn such reckless disregard for the sanctity of life.

“Our people deserve to be secure and should not be made to lose hope in the face of repeated violence from bandits who continue to defy government warning.”

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Atiku who blamed the President Muhammadu Buhari administration for politicising the issue pointed out that instead of accepting responsibility and taking prompt action to protect the victims, the administration was looking for scapegoats to divert attention from its own failures.

According to him, “I’m disappointed by the recent allegations by the Buhari government that the PDP leaders are using the so-called looted funds to finance insecurity in the country. The blame game doesn’t help the victims of the banditry in Sokoto and other places. The people want action and not official rhetoric”.

He lamented that it was unhelpful and regrettable for a sitting government to be blaming the opposition for insecurity in the country instead of taking responsibility.

“Tell me why we should kill our own people in order to gain power. Tell me why the PDP should harm the very citizens whose support it needs to unseat the incompetent APC administration”, he queried.

Atiku who insisted that conspiracy theories by the APC leaders were not useful strategies to protect the people against mass murderers, explained that conspiracy theories were signs of laziness and lack of vision and effective strategies to protect the people.

The PDP presidential candidate advised the APC government to be courageous enough to accept responsibility for its lack of vision and for running out of ideas on how to govern the country.

He recalled that “between 2014 and 2015, the APC leaders used conspiracy theories to gain power by accusing former President Goodluck Jonathan of financing Boko Haram, and today they are using the same conspiracy theories against PDP in order to desperately hang on to power”.

Atiku, however, said that Nigerians were now wiser and would not buy the APC conspiracy dummy any longer because the government would be judged by its performance in the area of security adding that “patience with failure and despair is not an option for the voters.”