Federal Government has reacted to claims that the abduction of some students from a boarding school in Kankara, Katsina State, and their release was stage-managed.
Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the minister of information and culture dismissed the claim on Saturday, saying it was senseless to think such a notion, PM News reports.
Since the news about the kidnap and rescue of the 334 young boys broke, FG had in some quarters been accused of acting the entire incident out, saying some occurrences about the abduction does not seem right.
Mohammed, during an appearance on a special edition of the Nigeria Television Authority programme, “Good Morning Nigeria’’, said the Federal Government had nothing to gain from such actions.
Reacting to the claim, the minister stated that it does not make sense for any administration to stage-manage abduction of students or any of its citizens.
He expressed;
What precisely does the government want to achieve? Is it to prove the deficiency of the military or what. In the case of Dapchi, we had all kinds of bizarre theories.
You have to be in government to know how many sleepless nights the president, ministers and head of security outfits spent until the matter is resolved.
The Minister said many people were disappointed that the Kankara abduction was resolved so fast just like that of Dapchi.
On February 19, 2018, 110 schoolgirls were abducted from Government Girls Science Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe state.
When the government secured the release of 104 of the schoolgirls and two other children in March 21, 2018, certain groups, including the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, alleged that it was stage-managed to score “cheap political points”.
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He added;
Many naysayers would have loved the incident to linger and become the igniting rod for their attacks. Within a few days of the abduction, the so-called organisation had moved to Katsina.
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The Minister further stated;
When you have a situation like this, naysayers who are bent at bringing down the government, will come up with all kinds of theories that do not make sense.
Dapchi abduction was in 2018, how come two years down the lane, nobody has come out to tell us how it was stage-managed?
The Minister admonished politicians and other interest groups to stop politicising and commercialising issues of security and national tragedy.
He stressed;
In times of crisis and tragedy, people normally come together to address the issue. It is not a time to politicise and even trade or commercialise the misery and tragedy of a nation.
We can have our differences but when it comes to issues of security, we should come together and fight it.
Mohammed noted that it was disappointing that days after Kankara boys were abducted, some political groups had come to Abuja distributing vests and placing banners all over the streets.
He noted that times of national crisis such as the kidnapping of children should not be used to denigrate the military, adding that people should rather come together to proffer solutions.
