Knocks PDP governors over Zamfara meeting

From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has knocked President Bola Tinubu for allegedly globe-trotting while citizens are being killed.

It called for a declaration of state of emergency in Katsina where 20 persons were killed in a Mosque and in Zamfara State.

The coalition also berated the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors Forum (PDP-GF) over its weekend meeting in Zamfara, days after the gruesome killing of 48 residents of the state.

The ADC, in a statement by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, yesterday, said the meeting showed the insensitive nature of the PDP to the plight of the people.

It stated that rather than the PDP Governors to rally round their Zamfara colleague, Dauda Lawal, to help stop the killings, they opted for a political funfair.

The ADC expressed concern over the recent massacre in Malumfashi Local Government Area of Katsina State where 30 worshippers were shot dead in a mosque during dawn prayers, and 20 villagers were burned alive in their homes.”

According to the party, “this evil act epitomizes the horrors that Nigerians have been forced to endure under this administration. It is also a damning proof of the total collapse of our national security architecture, which has prompted even the nation’s Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) to ask citizens to learn how to defend themselves.

“The carnage in Katsina comes on the heels of the recent killings in Zamfara, where 47 people were slaughtered, including 38 hostages murdered even after ransom was paid. And only this month, no fewer than 45 more Nigerians have been killed in Zamfara, with entire villages ransacked, and dozens abducted. Taken together, over 140 Nigerians have been murdered in just two months in Katsina and Zamfara alone.

“It is disheartening to note that instead of confronting these urgent national tragedies with the seriousness that they demand, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu continues to jet-set across the world, chasing photo-ops, while his people are dying in dozens at home. We wish to remind Mr. President that diplomacy abroad is meaningless if safety and security at home cannot be guaranteed.

“It is equally appalling to note that President Tinubu has not made a direct statement of condolence to family of victims or given the assurance of safety to those still alive. This negligence would have been unthinkable in those countries that the President loves to visit.

“In view of the foregoing, ADC therefore calls for an immediate declaration of a State of Emergency in Katsina and Zamfara States until the government is able to stem the tide of bloodshed in those places and restore some order.”

Furthermore, the party said “in a similar vein, we condemn the decision of PDP Governors to hold their political meeting in Zamfara on Saturday, only a few days after scores of innocent citizens were slaughtered in that same state.

“Instead of the governors to rally around their beleaguered colleague to help stop the orgy of killings, they chose to stage a political rally at the scene of mass murder, even if it meant trampling on the memory of the victims.

“The photos of PDP Governors in full ceremonial robes, grinning for the camera, is totally out of place in an environment that still reeks of so much blood and sorrow.

“This act alone further underlines an important fact: neither the ruling APC nor the incurably afflicted PDP care about the people and their suffering. They only care about power and politics.”

Moreover, the ADC charged President Tinubu and the Federal Government to review the country’s security architecture, noting that it has already proven that it is incapable of protecting lives and property.

It noted that the call by the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, for citizens to acquire self defence skills “is perhaps the most honest indicator yet that there is a need to rethink the entire internal defence system.”