The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described the kidnapping of 163 worshippers during Sunday service in Kajuru Local Government Area of Kaduna State as a sad reminder of the normalisation of insecurity.
Its National Publicity Secretary, Ini Ememobong in a statement issued Monday said the recent abduction was an indication that insecurity has become the new reality of Nigerians due to the horrifying security failure under the All Progressives Congress-led administration.
TheHintsNews reports that the attack was carried out by bandits who arrived in large numbers, while the worshippers were in the middle of the service.
172 people were initially abducted, but nine of them escaped immediately after the attack.
Ememobong noted that these frequent attacks on worshippers in their places of worship, irrespective of religion, represent the inability of this government to protect the constitutionally enshrined right to freedom of worship. Nigerians must not live in fear when going to churches or mosques to worship.
He added: “The entrenchment of such brazen criminality under this administration is totally unacceptable.
“We hereby call on the APC-led Federal Government to immediately commence comprehensive rescue operations to bring these kidnapped citizens home safely.
“We urge them not to dramatise this sad situation the way they did with the Niger school kidnapping, where media optics prevailed over identity protection and safeguarding during the ‘rescue and return’ processes of the victims.
The opposition said the President should concentrate on fixing Nigeria’s worsening insecurity instead of spending millions of taxpayers’ money on international image laundering campaigns to change narratives abroad, stressing that insecurity cannot be solved by propaganda.
It noted: “The families suffering these tragedies will communicate their pain regardless of how much money is spent on image management.
“We are convinced that if state policing had been operational, these criminals may not have successfully operated with such impunity and taken this large number of people captive.
“The federal government must urgently double its efforts at combating banditry, kidnapping and other violent crimes.
“The protection of citizens is the government’s primary constitutional responsibility. Every Nigerian deserves to worship in safety.”
The PDP maintained that the Tinubu administration must demonstrate that Nigerian lives matter through immediate action, not empty promises.