“Mr. President assured Nigerians in 2015 that he would lead from the front, but today, he can’t be found. Nigerians are at the mercy of bandits, invaders and terrorists.” —Kola Ologbondiyan.

Nigeria’s main opposition, the People’s Democratic Party (the PDP) has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to adopt a wholesome approach that would end waves of kidnappings in the country. Our correspondent who monitored this report on the Voice of America current affairs/news programme, Day Break Africa, reports that this call by the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) followed the release, over the weekend, of twenty-seven (27) boys who were kidnapped last week from their school in Niger state.

It was reported that in reacting to the release, President Buhari assured Nigerians that over three hundred (300) girls abducted from Zamfara state would be the last to be kidnapped. Kola Ologbondiyan, the national publicity secretary of the PDP while reacting swiftly, says Nigerians are tired of empty promises. According to Kola Ologbondiyan, “In Kagara Niger state, the school boys that were abducted have been released. However, what is the modality of their release? How was it achieved? As we speak, the girls that were taken in Jangebe in Zamfara state are yet to be released. And it will interest you to know that in the situation in Zamfara, there are allegations of complicity on the part of the military. We the People’s Democratic Party has (have) asked the federal government to begin an inquest which the federal government has refused to speak on. So for us in the People’s Democratic Party, we believe that the situation goes beyond their undertaking underhand measures and below the belt approaches. We think that the federal government should adopt a total measure that can combat the vice”.

When asked if he had any comment on the fact that President Muhammadu Buhari had sent a delegation to Zamfara state and given the known fact that the girls that were abducted sometime ago this month have still not been released but the president has said that the abduction of these girls and boys would be the last in Nigeria, the PDP national spokesman retorted that “For us People’s Democratic Party, we are used to such promises which at the end of the day become empty because they have never achieved a position. So it is not strange to hear Mr. President saying this would be the last abduction, or Mr. President saying “Oh! Boko Harram will be defeated in so so so number of days”. These are empty boasts as far as we are concerned in the People’s Democratic Party and we have demanded that Mr. President should seek help in the management of the sorry situation in which our nation has found herself. It is not enough to sit in the presidential villa in Aso Rock in their comfort zone and be making promises.

While reminding President Muhammadu Buhari of his statement in 2015, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan noted that “Mr. President assured Nigerians in 2015 that he would lead from the front, but today, he can’t be found. Nigerians are at the mercy of bandits, invaders and terrorists.”

The PDP national publicity secretary reacted further to a statement which quoted President Muhammadu Buhari to have said that new measures have been put in place that would prevent any further abduction or kidnapping.

“The same level of delegation led by the chief of staff to Mr. President was sent to Kaduna state either on Thursday or on Friday to meet the nineteen (19) northern governors and meet with the traditional rulers. In few hours after that meeting, three hundred and seventeen (317) girls were abducted in Jangebe in Zamfara state.

“What Nigerians are demanding today is that Mr. President, should show enough cause, should empathize with Nigerians, should be seen as leading the people and leading from the front, should be sympathetic to the course and the feelings of the ordinary people out there. It is not enough to hide inside the presidential villa and be making promises.

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Nigeria’s opposition calls on President Buhari to lead from the front in the fight against kidnapping