Kidnappings: FG Must Pay Compensation, Refund Victims’ Ransom, Says PDP Mandate Group

The National Mandate Group (NMG), a  support organisation of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) for its presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Atiku Abubakar on Wednesday

called on Nigeria’s Federal Government to “work out a refund and a compensation package for kidnapped victims who paid a ransom to regain their freedom throughout the country.”

The organization said the demand became necessary because the government failed to provide security while President Bola Tinubu abandoned his duty post and took a vacation at this period of national calamity.

The Lagos State Chairman of NMG, Hon. Wahab Sadiq (a.k.a. Deske) said these in a statement congratulated the Lagos State Chairman of the PDP freed from the kidnappers’ den after his abduction along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

Arise News reports that Aivoji, Chairman of the Lagos State chapter of PDP, was abducted on Thursday by gunmen along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and released in the early hours of Monday.

Aivoji and others were taken by abductors at the Ogere area of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway while returning from their party’s Stakeholders’ Zonal Caucus meeting convened at Ibadan by Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde.

The abductors initially contacted his family and demanded a N200 million ransom.

Sadiq said, “It took the grace of God for Philip Aivoji to have survived the ordeal of being abducted and subjected to all sorts of psychological torture and physical trauma at the hand of the criminals.

“Our prayer is that God that has given Hon. Aivoji this great deliverance will continue to protect him. Additionally, we wish to express unmitigated gratitude to all individuals, groups and institutions that rallied round to guarantee the safe return of our beloved PDP Chairman.”

However, NMG slammed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for abandoning his duty post and taking a vacation at this period of national calamity.

Sadiq recalled that Tinubu left the country for “private visit” overseas soon after the killing of over 50 unarmed Nigerians by terrorists in Plateau and Benue states.

The NMG said, “Who does that? Who sees his home burning and will decide to go sightseeing? It is the height of insensitivity and apathy. It shows that the government of President Tinubu has lost touch with the reality of life in this jungle that Nigeria is fast becoming under nine years of the All Progressives Congress, APC.

“Time has come for the Federal Government to begin to feel the pain of kidnappings and abductions Nigerians daily suffer. NMG demands that every time someone is kidnapped and ransomed, the government must bear the cost through a well-structured compensation and refund policy.

“A government that shows lack of capacity to provide security and apprehend insurgency, terrorism and banditry has no reason to continue in office.”

Lamenting that lives were lost and injuries sustained during the rescue operation by police and security agencies, NMG expressed condolences with the bereaved families.

“We pray that God should grant sweet repose to the souls that died, console their families and heal all those who suffered various degrees of injuries and psychological traumas,” Sadiq said.

Friday Olokor, Abuja

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