The Makinde/Daura Presidential Campaign Organisation (MDPCO) has condemned the handling of insecurity by the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, following the abduction of 19 prospective National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members travelling from Ibadan, Oyo State, to their orientation camps in the South-East and South-South.
In a statement issued on Saturday by its Director of Strategic Communications, Richard Ihediwa, the Organisation described the October 1 incident as another sad commentary on the failure of the Tinubu-led APC administration to secure Nigerians, particularly youths on national assignment.
The victims were travelling in two buses from Ibadan to orientation camps in Bende, Abia State and Uyo, Akwa Ibom State when gunmen attacked them along the Owerri-Onitsha Road near Umunoha in Mbaitoli Local Government Area of Imo State.
The Imo State Police Command confirmed that 10 victims were rescued in an initial operation, while efforts were ongoing to rescue others.
MDPCO said it was “profoundly saddening and heartbreaking that under the watch of the Tinubu-led administration, parents toil, make immense sacrifices and struggle through biting economic hardship to train their children through tertiary institutions, only for them to be handed over to terrorists and bandits.”
The campaign body alleged that the “lackadaisical attitude” of the administration had emboldened terrorists, bandits and kidnappers and claimed that Nigeria was fast degenerating into a failed state.
It also alleged that over 600,000 Nigerians had been killed by terrorists and bandits in the three and half years of the Tinubu administration.
The organisation called on the Federal Government to act decisively to secure the release of the abducted corps members and other Nigerians in captivity across the country.