NYSC members’ abduction: Tinubu’s alleged laxity emboldening terrorists — Makinde campaign

The Makinde/Daura Presidential Campaign Organisation, MDPCO, has alleged that President Bola Tinubu’s laxity on security has emboldened terrorists, bandits and kidnappers to attack, kill, maim and abduct Nigerians.

The campaign organisation made the allegation against the backdrop of the abduction of 19 prospective National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, members travelling from Ibadan, Oyo State, to their orientation camps in the South-East and South-South.

In a statement by its Director of Strategic Communications, Richard Ihediwa, the MDPCO said the incident was another sad commentary on what it described as the failure of the Tinubu-led All Progressives Congress, APC, administration to secure Nigerians, particularly youths on national assignment.

“It is profoundly saddening and heartbreaking that under the watch of the Tinubu-led administration, parents toil, make immense sacrifices and struggle through biting economic hardship to train their children through tertiary institutions, only for them to be handed over to terrorists and bandits,” the organisation said.

The campaign body said the incident was not isolated, but reflected a wider security crisis in which homes, communities, markets, places of worship, schools and highways were increasingly being overrun by criminal elements.

It alleged that more than 600,000 Nigerians had been killed by terrorists, bandits and marauders in the three-and-a-half years of the Tinubu administration, while countless others remained in captivity.

“Sadly, Nigeria under President Tinubu is fast degenerating into a failed state where the primary constitutional duty of government, which is to ensure the security and welfare of citizens, has collapsed,” the MDPCO said.

The organisation acknowledged the sacrifices of security personnel but alleged that the Tinubu Presidency had failed to demonstrate the capacity to manage an effective, intelligence-driven security system capable of guaranteeing the safety of Nigerians.

It urged Tinubu to take a cue from the security approach of APM presidential candidate, Seyi Makinde, in Oyo State, which it said emphasised coordinated operations, intelligence, stronger collaboration, preventive measures and rapid response.

The MDPCO said Makinde had demonstrated the capacity, experience and vigour to provide purposeful leadership and lead from the front on national issues.

It further declared that Nigerians were resolved to vote for Makinde in the January 16, 2027 presidential election, describing him as a credible alternative to the Tinubu administration.

The campaign organisation expressed solidarity with Nigerians affected by insecurity and urged citizens to remain steadfast as it works towards what it described as a reset and a new beginning under a Makinde/Daura administration.