PDP, Atiku condemn Adamawa, Bayelsa killings

THE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has condemned as extremely wicked and heartrending, the horrible killing of 60 worshippers in a blast at a mosque and nearby market in Mubi, Adamawa state by insurgents.

In a statement issued Kola Ologbondiyan, its National Publicity Secretary in Abuja on Wednesday, the party also lamented as shocking and devastating, the gruesome murder of Special Adviser to Bayelsa Governor Seriake Dickson, Mr. Ebikimi Okoringa by gunmen on Monday.

The statement said the PDP and indeed all Nigerians are deeply worried about the ceaseless killing of citizens, “which have continued to escalate because of the aloofness of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led All Progressives Congress (APC) administration on issues of security in our country.”

The opposition party said: “It is painful that while President Buhari and the APC Federal Government are busy misleading Nigerians and the world with false claims of having decimated insurgents, the same insurgents are having a field day pillaging our citizens in various parts of the country.

“We hold that if the incompetent APC administration had not continued to issue false security assurances, these compatriots would not have believed a lie and dropped their guards when they would have adopted more precautionary measures; only to be slaughtered as soft targets by insurgents.”

The PDP, therefore, charged the security agencies to insulate themselves from the APC propaganda and take urgent steps to tackle the security situation in the country.

According to the statement, Nigerians look up to them now, more than ever before, to deploy their patriotism and professional skills to ensure the safety of lives in our country.

Furthermore, the PDP said it was shocked by the murder of Mr. Okoringa, who is described as a patriotic and selfless Nigerian, who worked hard not only for the development of his state but Nigeria at large.

It similarly charged security forces in Bayelsa state to immediately spread out and apprehend his killers and bring them to book.

The PDP commiserated with the families of Mr. Okoringa, the victims of the blast in Adamawa state and the daily bloodletting in Benue, Taraba, Nasarawa, Zamfara, Plateau, Kogi and other states, “which have become the order of the day under the APC administration.”

It urged Nigerians across the board to continue to be alert and support one another irrespective of religious, ethnic and political leanings, especially at this trying time in the history of our nation.

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In a related development, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has condemned the latest suicide attack on a Mosque in Mubi, Adamawa State, when Muslim worshippers were performing their afternoon (Zuhr) prayers on Tuesday.

Reacting to the incident in a statement in Abuja on Wednesday, Atiku noted that the killing of innocent people is senseless, thoughtless, purposeless, incomprehensible and, above all, egregiously wicked and ungodly.

He said his heart and sympathies go to the families of the victims as Boko Haram has made the killing of innocent people a way of life, pursuing a nebulous cause that has nothing to do with Islam in whose name they commit atrocities against humanity.

Describing terrorists as enemies of civilisation who have no slightest regard for the sanctity of life, the former Vice President said he was saddened by the fact that the people in the Northeast are living under constant threats of death and mortal fear.

According to him, “these communities are now captives of fear who have to look over their shoulders as they leave their homes for work, school or for the places of worship.”

Atiku called for increased vigilance and human intelligence, adding that the local people should be given support on how to spot threats and how best to stop these heinous acts from occurring.

While praising our security forces for their sacrifices and for doing their best despite severe limitations, including confronting an unconventional enemy, the former Vice President advised that strategies should be strengthened or reviewed so as to keep pace with the terrorists changing tactics.