The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has urged President Bola Tinubu to temporarily relocate to Kebbi State following the abduction of 24 schoolgirls in the state.
The opposition party said the president’s physical presence in Kebbi would boost the morale of frontline troops and inspire security agencies to intensify efforts to rescue the victims.
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The party urged the president to also relocate to other hotspots experiencing armed conflict across the country.
Ini Ememobong, the PDP’s new spokesperson, made the call in a statement on Thursday.
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He commended the president for cancelling his scheduled trips to South Africa and Angola, but described the action as insufficient.
“The announcement of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s cancellation of his planned trip to South Africa and Angola stands as the latest and boldest example of tokenism. While the decision may appear to be in sympathy with the kidnapping of the Maga schoolgirls and the escalating insecurity across the country, particularly in northern Nigeria, it remains a mere perfunctory gesture and nothing more.
“If the APC-led Presidency disagrees with this position, then we demand that President Tinubu temporarily relocate to Kebbi State and other theatres of armed conflict in Northern Nigeria. Such a move will not only challenge the security agencies to act more decisively in ending the ongoing carnage, but will also boost the morale of the troops on the frontlines.
“As President and Commander-in-Chief, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, must not recline in the comfort of the Presidential Villa at a time when 25 schoolgirls have been abducted and their whereabouts remain unknown. He must demonstrate leadership by leading from the front, as true leaders do in moments of grave national challenge,” he said.
PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported that terrorists, armed with sophisticated weapons, stormed the school on motorcycles, abducted the students from their dormitory, killed the vice principal, and injured a local security guard, Ali Maga.
Police authorities and the Kebbi State Government confirmed the abductions, saying a tactical team engaged the attackers in a gun duel, but the terrorists escaped through the school’s fence.
This is not the first time Kebbi State has witnessed mass abductions. In June 2021, the Dogo Gide group kidnapped about 80 students and five teachers from the Federal Government College, Birnin Yauri.
Similarly, in 2014, Boko Haram abducted hundreds of schoolgirls from Chibok in Borno State under the watch of then-governor Kashim Shettima, now Nigeria’s vice president.
In May 2021, terrorists stormed an Islamic school in Tegina, Niger State, kidnapping nearly 200 students. The attack came a few days after 14 students kidnapped from Greenfield University in Kaduna State were freed.
In February that same year, terrorists kidnapped nearly 300 girls from a boarding school in Jangebe, Zamfara State. Most of them were later freed.
In 2024, terrorists kidnapped more than 100 students from a joint elementary school in Kuriga, Kaduna State. The students were subsequently freed a few months later, with the government claiming that no ransom was paid.
On Tuesday, terrorists attacked a church in Eruku Village in the Ekiti Local Government Area of Kwara State, abducting several worshippers. Military personnel were later deployed in the community.
Security, a daily experience
In the statement, the PDP said the attack in Kwara further demonstrates that insecurity has become a daily experience for Nigerians.
“The recent attacks in Kwara State further support our assertion that insecurity and fear have become the daily lived experience and new reality of Nigerians across the country. Yet the APC-led administration continues to issue outright denials, rationalised explanations, empty assurances, and other superficial gestures such as the President’s cancelled trip,” he said.
The party argued that without strategic action, the cancelled trip amounts to another media stunt aimed at garnering public sympathy rather than addressing the urgent security challenges.
READ ALSO; UPDATED: Terrorists kidnap students, teachers from Niger boarding school
“Without further strategic actions, this trip cancellation will amount to nothing more than another media stunt aimed at currying public favour and sympathy, rather than confronting the urgent task of securing lives and property across Nigeria. If this were a political crisis (like the Rivers State case), President Tinubu would have deployed all strategies and resources, within and outside the law, to find a solution.
“We hereby put the President and his administration on notice that Nigerians are tired of symbolic gestures such as sympathy statements and trip cancellations. What the nation urgently requires is decisive leadership, strategic action, and effective support for the security forces, especially those at the front lines, rather than cosmetic efforts designed to score political points,” the statement said.
The PDP said Nigerians were tired of symbolic gestures and demand decisive leadership and sustained support for security forces.
“The safety of Nigerians cannot be reduced to mere theatrics. Leadership must rise above optics and deliver tangible, consistent action that restores public confidence and protects lives and property. This situation demands seriousness, not symbolism. The Presidency must rise to the occasion or make way for those who can,” the party said.
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