…Berates PMB For Classifying Killings
The main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has described President Muhammadu Buhari’s resort to religious coloration and classification of the wanton killings in the country by insurgents, as totally horrendous, unpresidential, scandalous, discriminatory, divisive and a huge spat on the grave of the victims.
In a statement signed by PDP’s National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, the PDP described as highly insensitive that President Buhari could attempt to rationalize the failure of his administration to end insurgency, by saying that 90 percent of the victims killed by terrorists are members of a particular religion.
The statement added, “The PDP, as a pan-Nigerian political party, holds without any equivocation, that the killing of any compatriot, anywhere by terrorists or bandits, irrespective of religion, ethnicity or class, can never be rationalized under any guise whatsoever.”
Saying that Mr. President’s disturbing statement shows that the Muhammadu Buhari Presidency and the All Progressives Congress, APC, attach no value to the lives of Nigerians, the PDP added that this development further exposes their manifest lack of capacity and commitment to effectively tackle the worsened security situation under President Buhari’s watch.
Ologbondiyan said, “Our party holds that for President Buhari, a Commander-in-Chief, who promised to fight from the fronts and now holds all the paraphernalia of power; and on whose shoulders the security of the nation rests, to make such a statement leaves no one in doubt that the Buhari Presidency has reached its wits end, exhausted its propaganda and has no solutions to offer.
“It is instructive for the Buhari Presidency to note that rather than engaging in lame attempt at rationalizing failure, the expectation of Nigerians is for it to take decisive steps, track down and vanquish terrorists, who resurged in our country after Mr. President took over as Commander-in-Chief.
“More distressing is that Mr. President’s divisive comment is coming at a time when all well-meaning Nigerians, irrespective of religion, partisan and sectional interests, are rallying together following calls by patriotic individuals and groups, particularly the PDP, to find solution for the worsened security challenges under the APC administration
The party called to the attention of President Buhari and the APC that every life is precious, irrespective of religion, and that this obnoxious body count as rationalization for failure is completely unacceptable.
Noting that with such dismal attitude, Nigerians have lost all confidence in the commitment of the APC administration to find solution to security challenges under its watch, the PDP therefore counsels President Buhari to immediately apologize for his comments, accept failure, rejig his security high command and engage more competent hands to effectively tackle the security challenges.
It said, “Indeed, what Nigerians want to hear from President Buhari is the apprehension and prosecution of perpetrators of mass killings in Benue, Plateau, Kogi, Niger, Yobe, Adamawa, Kano, Kaduna, Katsina and other states of the nation, where communities where pillaged under his watch.”
The party appealed to Nigerians not to allow such statements to deter and divide their emerging common front against acts of terrorism and violence in our country.
