The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has slammed the Federal Government over what it described as “secret deals” with terrorists after the release of abducted students in Kebbi and church worshippers in Kwara, expressing concern over comments attributed to senior government officials and security chiefs following the incidents.

Addressing journalists on Wednesday at the opposition party national secretariat in Abuja, its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi picked holes in the comments of the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun and presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga who separately revealed that the Federal Government had conversations with the terrorists before abducted citizens in their captivity were left off the hook.

The APC spokesman declared that the present administration has taken a wrong and misguided path by appeasing criminals.

He said: “While we are delighted that these citizens can finally reunite with their families, we must reiterate our long-standing position that these abductions should never have occurred in the first place if the government were alive to its constitutional responsibilities.

“What the country is witnessing today is the consequence of an administration distracted by politics and behaving less like a democratic government and more like an occupying force. It is telling that it took a chastening comment from President Trump to provoke even the slightest response from our government.

“Yet, even as we welcome the safe return of the victims, we remain deeply concerned about the opaque and troubling manner in which their release was secured.

“The conflicting accounts coming from different government officials make it clear that the Federal Government is not being honest with Nigerians about the circumstances surrounding the release of the abducted victims.

“We strongly believe that this administration is negotiating deals with insurgents. It is especially alarming to hear the Inspector General of Police state that the perpetrators of the Kwara church attack were not arrested because they “came out voluntarily for the peace talk.”

“Equally troubling is the comment attributed to the Presidential Spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, suggesting that the abductees were released simply because the government and security operatives asked them nicely.

“This raises serious questions: Is the Nigerian government paying ransom to insurgents? What exactly was exchanged for the so-called “surrender of weapons” by the kidnappers? And if these bandits truly surrendered weapons, what prevents them from simply acquiring new ones and continuing their criminal enterprise, if they are not going to be arrested and brought to face justice? What happened to the people they shot and killed in cold blood? Where is justice for the families of those victims if their murderers are allowed to go scot-free because government needs a quick-win to celebrate?

“The ADC is deeply concerned that if negotiation with bandits has become the government’s strategy for tackling insurgency and the surge in kidnappings, then Nigeria is on a dangerous and misguided path.

“It is the approach of an administration searching for shortcuts instead of confronting the problem decisively. By appeasing insurgents in this manner, the government is, in effect, expanding the banditry economy.

“Predictably, the bandits returned to the same Ekiti Local Government the very next day after the release of the churchgoers, abducting 11 more people in Isaac Community, Ekiti Local Government Area, of Kwara State.

“This pattern shows clearly that a system that focuses on “rescuing” victims without bringing perpetrators to justice only reinforces the vicious cycle of terror.”

The opposition party equally faulted the closure of public schools in response to the gale of abductions.

The ADC declared that “while the government may consider this the safest short-term option, it sends a dangerous message to the terrorists.

“A government that quietly negotiates with insurgents and then shuts down schools to avoid further kidnappings has, in effect, conceded ground to terror. By closing schools, the Tinubu administration is reinforcing the very ideology Boko Haram was built upon, and signalling weakness where strength is required. (Nigerian Tribune)