Atiku criticizes FG’s focus on protesters amidst rising insecurity

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has accused the federal government of prioritizing the arrest of protesters over addressing the escalating insecurity in the country.

In a statement on his X page on Wednesday, Abubakar condemned the recent terrorist attack in Yobe state, where suspected Boko Haram insurgents killed 34 worshippers during Maghrib prayer and looted the village of Mafa.

Abubakar criticized the government’s response, noting that despite ongoing violence in the North-West and North-Central regions, the authorities seem more concerned with suppressing dissent.

He highlighted the ongoing #EndBadGovernance protests, where 124 demonstrators were arrested, and ten have been charged in Abuja.

Abubakar called for immediate and comprehensive reform of the security framework and urged the Tinubu administration to prioritize the protection of life and property.

On Sunday, Dungus Abdulkarim, Yobe police spokesperson, said suspected Boko Haram insurgents looted and set shops and houses on fire in Mafa village under Tarmuwa LGA.

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Abdulkarim said the gunmen killed an “unspecified number of people and dropped some fliers with Arabic inscriptions”.

Zagazola Makama, a counter-insurgency publication focused on the Lake Chad region, also reported that the attack occurred during the Muslims’ Maghrib prayer when the gunmen shot sporadically into the gathering.

Makama said 34 worshippers were killed, adding that the gunmen also laid multiple explosives on the path to the village.

Meanwhile, Nigerians staged a 10-day nationwide #EndBadGovernance protest from August 1, demanding a reduction in governance costs, petrol subsidy reinstatement, food security, and fiscal discipline, among others.

However, the former vice-president, while reacting to these developments, said the federal government has “preoccupied itself with stifling dissent and imposing death sentences on protesters”.

Abubakar said the “atrocity in Yobe is a stark testament to the failure of the current security framework, demanding immediate and comprehensive reform”.

“Despite the tragic bloodshed in Yobe, which has claimed scores of lives, and the rampant destruction across numerous villages in Katsina, Sokoto, and other towns within the North-West and North-Central regions, the government seems to remain detached, engrossed in inconsequential affairs,” Atiku wrote.

“The turmoil extends to the South as well, where the disquiet wrought by Boko Haram and the unsettling political discord threatens the nation’s peace.

“Amidst these grave challenges, the Federal Government preoccupies itself with stifling dissent, resorting to draconian measures such as imposing death sentences on protesters.

“The atrocity in Yobe is a stark testament to the failure of the current security framework, demanding immediate and comprehensive reform.

“My heart goes out to the victims of these horrific attacks, and I fervently implore the Tinubu administration to demonstrate a heightened commitment to safeguarding life and property across the nation.”