A member of the House of Representatives Hon. Bamidele Salam representing Ede North/South/ Egbedore and Ejigbo Federal Constituency of Osun State has deplored the deteriorating state of security in the country and called on the President Muhammadu Buhari to act fast and save the lives to of those citizens abducted by bandits of the unfortunate Abuja-Kaduna train attack on March 28 2022 who are still being held in captivity.
Addressing a press conference at the National Assembly on Wednesday he said that as an individual he was worried by the turn of events in our dear nation Nigeria adding that this is a trying time in our nation’s history.
He had lamented that our nation is becoming a jungle of sorts where criminals carve out turfs and operate freely without any let or hindrance.
According to the lawmaker, one of the key dimensions of this criminality is the unholy practice of kidnapping for ransom, which according reports has spawned a billion naira industry in the last seven years or so.
He said: “It is to our embarrassment as a nation that our wives, mothers, fathers, husbands get routinely kidnapped at will by bandits with many of them losing their lives even after the payment of ransom by their families or communities”.
According to the Osun born politician, statistics of kidnapping in the country chill the bones.
He noted that a report by the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR) shows that from 2018 there has been a steady increase in the number of kidnap victims.
He further noted that the figure had risen from 987 victims in 2018 to 1,395 in 2019.
Moreover, In 2021 the figure rose to 2,865 in 2020 and 5,287 in 2021.Of the 2021 figure, more than 2000 were children and young people according to a UN study.
The All Progressives Congress APC lawmaker argued that several hundred Nigerians have been kidnapped the most harrowing being the attack on a train along the Abuja-Kaduna rail line in Kaduna State on March 28, this year where 168 people were reported kidnapped and eight persons killed including a young doctor due to travel out of the country the very week of the incident.
That the kidnapped victims of that attack he said remain in captivity till this moment is Asad commentary in our nation’s history and it is not clear how long they will be in captivity.
He asked whether they will remain there like the remnant of the Chibok girls kidnapped in 2014, Leah Sharibu who has been in captivity since February 19, 2018, the Bethel Baptist High School Students held for 10 months and 23 days, the pupils of the Islamiyya School in Katsina in captivity for nine months and 28 days, and the of the FGC Birni Yauri in Kebbi State who spent 11 months and nine days with terrorists, remains to be seen.
While calling on the President Muhammadu Buhari and the Vice President Prof. Yemi Osinbajo to act swiftly in order to save lives, he said that kidnapping is a clear and present danger to our nation with needless loss of lives with its attendant effect on the national psyche.
The APC lawmaker who carried placards to register his displeasure over these incidents also said that a report by Paraphyte reveals that in January this year 915 of the 1486 victims of kidnapping or insecurity, 915 lost their lives.
He said that we cannot continue along this route. The kidnappings and deaths resulting therefrom are a stain on our national conscience.
The Kaduna train kidnap incident itself he said is a blight not only the efficiency of our security system but a slap on the face of government whose responsibility it is to secure life and property.
He pointed out that such an attack could happen in broad daylight without our security operatives being capable of fending off the bandits, speaks to a defect in our security system.
This defect he submitted reflects badly on government. No government can aspire to legitimacy and relevance of it fails the basic test of ensuring the safety and well-being of the people who elected it into office.
“We are at that point today when the Federal Government under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari must rise to it full height and exercise leadership. It is trite to remark that the unfettered activities of bandits, terrorists and other criminals has created the impression in the minds of many Nigerians and even foreigners that the Nigerian state is tottering on the brink of collapse” he stated.
He recalled that in August 2021, bandits attacked Nigeria’s elite military institution, the Nigerian Defense Academy (NDA) killing two officers and abducting another senior officer.
According to him, that attack and many others elsewhere have belittled our security agencies and have caused Nigerians to lose faith in the ability of their government to protect their inalienable rights to life and property.
President Buhari he stated must rekindle that confidence and a good place to start would be to work assiduously to secure the release of the kidnapped Kaduna train victims.
He lamented that the reports and video footages emanating from their abductors are not encouraging. The lives of the hostages hang in the balance as the Federal Government seemingly at its wits end, prevaricates on such sensitive matter of national importance.
He added that Mr. President is a very good Muslim and the Prophet Muhammed, Peace be Upon Him said leaders are shepherds and that the Almighty Allah will ask about each of the sheep in our care. Our Vice President is a good Christian and so he has a lot to learn from how David handled a similar situation in 1st Samuel Chapter 30.What needs to be done to secure the release of the Kaduna train victims must be done.
He lamented that too many precious Nigerian lives had been lost to kidnappers and other malevolent individuals adding that to permit these hapless victims of the train hijack to become the latest statistics of a nefarious enterprise that has sullied the national image.
The Osun State born lawmaker therefore called on his colleagues in the National Assembly and Nigerians at large to join in urging President Buhari to do all that is within his power as the Commander-in-Chief of our Armed Forces to free these victims and many others languishing in captivity.
