The African Democratic Congress has warned President Bola Tinubu against holding secret talks with terrorists, saying such deals could worsen the country’s security problems.
At a press briefing in Abuja after a closed meeting of party and coalition leaders, ADC National Publicity Secretary Bolaji Abdullahi welcomed the release of recent abductees, including worshippers taken from Christ Apostolic Church in Oke-Isegun, Kwara State, and schoolgirls from Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in Maga, Kebbi State. He said the government must explain “the opaque and troubling manner” in which those releases happened.
Abdullahi added, “We strongly believe that this administration is negotiating deals with insurgents,” and said that conflicting official statements showed “the Federal Government is not being honest with Nigerians.”
He also rejected remarks linked to presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga that suggested kidnappers “came out voluntarily for the peace talk” or freed captives because government “asked them nicely.” Abdullahi called such claims unacceptable for a nation facing violent crime.
He raised a series of questions about the handling of the releases and any deals made with criminals. He asked, “Is the Nigerian government paying ransom to insurgents? What exactly was exced for the so-called surrender of weapons? And if these bandits truly surrendered weapons, what prevents them from simply acquiring new ones and continuing their criminal enterprise?”
The ADC warned that striking bargains with bandits would only “expand the banditry economy,” and pointed to fresh s in Ekiti Local Government Area of Kwara State where 11 people were taken a day after earlier victims were freed.
The party also criticised the decision to close 47 unity schools on grounds that the move empowers terrorists. Abdullahi said closing schools risks validating the ideology behind groups like Boko Haram and signals that the government cannot protect children.
He faulted officials for failing to provide a clear number of abducted schoolchildren and described the confusion as “a damning indictment” of how security is being managed. The ADC urged the federal government to restart the Safe Schools Initiative, to place NSCDC personnel in unity schools, and to act quickly to recover all abducted pupils.
The statement followed a meeting attended by coalition figures including ADC National Chairman Senator David Mark, former SGF Babachir Lawal, former Kaduna State governor Nasir El-Rufai, former Rivers State governor Rotimi Amaechi, former ADC chairman Dr. Ralph Nwosu, and Bolaji Abdullahi. The gathering is part of moves to strengthen the opposition after former Vice President Atiku Abubakar formally joined the ADC this week.
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