Former Vice President and perennial presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has launched a blistering attack on the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu following the recent release of schoolgirls abducted from Federal Government College, Yauri, in Kebbi State. Far from viewing the girls’ freedom as a success story worthy of celebration, Atiku described the episode as a stark and shameful illustration of Nigeria’s rapidly deteriorating security architecture under the current government.
In a strongly worded statement released by his media office on Wednesday, the former Vice President took direct aim at the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, who had appeared on Arise Television and portrayed the release of the abducted students as a significant achievement for Nigeria’s security agencies. Atiku dismissed Onanuga’s remarks as a “shameful attempt to whitewash a national tragedy” and an effort to “dress up government incompetence as heroism.”
The crux of Atiku’s criticism centres on what he sees as a disturbing pattern: the Nigerian state, despite claiming sophisticated intelligence and real-time tracking capabilities, repeatedly resorts to negotiation and ransom payment rather than decisive military action against terrorists and bandits. He pointedly questioned the logic behind the government’s narrative that security forces were able to monitor the kidnappers’ movements and even establish contact with them, yet failed to arrest, neutralise, or dismantle the criminal gang.
“If, as Mr. Onanuga proudly claimed, the Department of State Services (DSS) and the military could track the kidnappers in real time and make contact with them, then the question every Nigerian should be asking is simple and straightforward: Why were these criminals not arrested on the spot? Why were they not neutralised? Why were their camps not dismantled?” Atiku demanded.
He argued that the very act of negotiating with armed non-state actors who openly flout the authority of the Nigerian state amounts to a public admission of weakness. “Truth be told,” he continued, “the release of abducted Nigerians is not a trophy moment; it is a damning reminder that terrorists and bandits now operate freely across large swathes of our country, negotiate openly with the government, dictate terms, collect millions in ransom, and then stroll back into the forests unscathed, ready to strike again.”
The former Vice President painted a grim picture of a nation whose security forces appear either unwilling or incapable of confronting the armed groups that have turned large parts of the North-West and North-Central regions into no-go areas. He contended that the repeated cycle of mass abductions followed by negotiated releases has effectively transformed bandit and terrorist groups into “an alternative government” that operates parallel to the legitimate authorities.
“Under President Tinubu’s administration,” Atiku charged, “terrorists and bandits have become an alternative government — negotiating, collecting ransom, and walking away untouched — while the Presidency and its spokespersons celebrate the criminals’ so-called ‘compliance’ and ‘cooperation.’ No serious nation in the world applauds itself for negotiating with terrorists it claims to have under 24-hour surveillance. No responsible government congratulates itself for allowing abductors to return to the bush so they can kidnap again tomorrow.”
Atiku further accused the government of engaging in deliberate propaganda to mask its failures, insisting that allowing heavily armed criminals to escape after receiving ransom payments, even when their locations were supposedly known, “smacks of complicity” at the highest levels. He described the official narrative as “fairy tales by moonlight” being fed to a traumatised and increasingly desperate populace that is crying out for genuine protection rather than press statements and televised congratulations.
The statement comes against the backdrop of years of relentless school abductions that have traumatised entire communities and forced thousands of children out of education. From Chibok in 2014 through Dapchi, Kankara, Jangebe, Kagara, and now the lingering cases in Kebbi and Zamfara, the pattern has remained depressingly familiar: gunmen storm schools, herd away dozens or hundreds of children, demand ransom, and eventually release some or all of the victims after payments are made—often with little or no consequence for the perpetrators.
Atiku warned that as long as the government continues to treat the payment of ransom and the safe retreat of kidnappers as some kind of diplomatic achievement, the cycle of violence will only intensify. He called on Nigerians to reject what he termed “insulting propaganda” from government officials and to demand accountability, decisive action, and an end to the culture of negotiation with terrorists.
The former Vice President’s outburst has reignited the debate over the Tinubu administration’s handling of the country’s security crisis, with many observers noting that despite the creation of a Ministry of Defence-focused national security strategy and repeated assurances of improved intelligence and coordination, the incidence of mass abductions has shown no appreciable decline.
As Nigeria approaches the third decade of its battle against insurgency and banditry, Atiku’s intervention serves as a stark reminder that, for a growing number of citizens, the release of abducted schoolchildren is no longer seen as victory, but as yet another chapter in a long and painful story of state failure. Whether the government will respond with substantive policy shifts or with yet another round of media rebuttals remains to be seen.
