PDP, Afenifere Knock Buhari Over Kaduna Airport Attack

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, on Sunday criticised the President Muhammadu Buhari administration for Saturday’s invasion of the Kaduna International Airport by bandits. PDP said the development was a clear confirmation that the command and control structure of the country’s security under Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC) had collapsed.
The Minority Caucus in the House of Representatives equally expressed shock at the brazen invasion and takeover of the airport by terrorists. The caucus, in a statement by its leader,

Hon. Ndudi Elumelu, called for urgent and comprehensive investigation into the circumstances leading to what it called an apparent compromise of security at the airport, which paved way for the breach.
The PDP, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, said the alarming invasion of the airport by terrorists at a time outlaws, kidnappers, and marauders had taken over the highways and railways heightened security concerns and fears that nowhere was safe in the country under APC.
According to PDP, “The refusal and failure of Buhari and the APC to take action on the airport attack but continued to jamboree in Abuja in the name of a national convention reveal and confirm that the Buhari administration has conceded sovereignty over parts of the country to terrorists.”
The main opposition party said Buhari’s nonchalant disposition to the grave security challenge was an indication that his administration was “unable, unwilling and or complicit in this particular attack as well as various other acts of terrorism in the country.”

PDP stated that it was “indefensibly suspicious that while an international airport in the country was under attack by over 200 terrorists, with many Nigerians being held hostage and traumatised, President Buhari and the APC continued in their carnival in Abuja without acknowledging or expressing concern.”
It wondered, “Is this not a case of ‘Buhari fiddles while Nigeria burns?’”
The party also said, “The APC government has failed, become numb to violence against our citizens, and can no longer perform its primary duty under Section 14 (2)(b) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), which provides that ‘security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government.’”

The party argued that Buhari’s failure to address the Kaduna airport attack was consistent with his characteristic abdication of duty at critical times, recalling how in January, the president cancelled his scheduled visit to Zamfara State, a state it claimed was daily traumatised by terrorists.
PDP alleged, “By that action, Mr. President allowed shared sovereignty with terrorists over a part of the territory of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. This acquiesce emboldened the terrorists to now expand their control to the international airport in Kaduna, ostensibly with the possibility of using it to import arms and ammunition as well as coordinate terrorist activities in our country.

“One of the main features or determinants of sovereignty is the ability of an authority to impose taxes, enforce collection, control commercial activities as well as exit and entry points, including airports.
“Under President Buhari, terrorists have established sovereignty in substantial parts of the country, especially in the North-west and North-east regions, where terrorists execute laws and impose penalties, collect taxes, control commercial and transportation activities and now take control of an international airport with grave negative consequences to our national image in the world.
“Our country has never had it this bad with such a weak, uncoordinated, and clueless president with an inhumane, visionless and propaganda-driven political party like the APC.”
PDP stressed that Nigerians should rally round its members in their mission “to rescue the nation from the precipice and restore the unity and security of her people.”
On its part, Afenifere stated that the airport invasion by suspected terrorists was another indication of the deteriorating security situation in the country.

Afenifere, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Jare Ajayi, frowned on the incident, which happened on the very day the ruling APC was holding its national convention in Abuja. It warned that some people seemed to be bent on re-enacting the Afghanistan situation in Nigeria.
The group called on all those who believed in freedom, peaceful co-existence, personal liberty, true knowledge, and progress to rise up and ensure people who should act acted promptly.
Afenifere listed some security infractions that took place between Friday and Saturday in parts of the country and regretted that it was as though the country was at war, especially, in those areas where the unfortunate incidents occurred.
Among the incidents cited by the Yoruba group were the sacking of communities in Kaduna, Niger, and Enugu states by terrorist, leading to loss of lives, burning down of property, and forceful takeover of people’s possessions.

According to Afenifere, “It is a matter of serious concern that these security infractions happened at a time that government kept assuring us that it was on top of the situation. Some of these attacks by terrorists even occurred in broad daylight, that of Kaduna airport and that of Enugu, for instance.”
It asserted that for terrorists to have the audacity to attack an airport, despite all the available security apparatus, meant there was hardly anywhere safe in the country.
Afenifere maintained, “The federal government should immediately allow states to set up their own police forces, empower the existing security agencies, and stop treating terrorists with kid gloves. These must be done immediately so that Nigeria does not go the Afghanistan way.”
The House Minority Caucus called for an urgent investigation to discover the remote and immediate circumstances leading to the security breach at the Kaduna airport.
The lawmakers said the horrific development was another frightening commentary on the apparent collapse of national security and intelligence gathering coordination under the APC administration.

The statement said, “The Minority Caucus is deeply concerned and alarmed by the manifest lack of capacity by the APC administration to secure our nation to the extent that a strategic international airport in our country could be invaded and taken over by terrorists. Airports, especially international airports across the world, are usually highly secured areas. Therefore, the circumstances that allowed for the invasion of the Kaduna International Airport speak volumes about the failure of the APC administration.
“The attack on the airport at the time when our roads, railways and communities are being overrun by bandits, kidnappers and invaders has heightened fear across the country as well as sent a very worrisome signal to the international community regarding the safety of our airports and the worsening insecurity in Nigeria.

“Our caucus urges the federal government to immediately beef up security in all our airports and other public convergence facilities in our country so as to forestall a re-occurrence of such terrifying attack.”

Chuks Okocha, Deji Elumoye and Udora Orizu in Abuja

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