Atiku: Security forces can deal with bandits — but Tinubu isn’t providing leadership

Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar says the nation’s security forces have the capacity to eliminate bandits.

Speaking on Tuesday during a meeting with stakeholders from Borno, led by Mohammed Kumalia, a former member of the house of representatives, Abubakar said President Bola Tinubu is not providing the right leadership needed to tackle insecurity in the country.

“It is encouraging to see that more people, especially political leaders across the country, are increasingly becoming concerned about the deteriorating state of the Nigerian nation to the extent of engaging in finding solutions round the clock,” Abubakar said.

Insecurity in the country has surged, with bandits reportedly controlling certain areas and extorting residents.

The former vice-president blamed the situation on alleged Tinubu’s leadership failure.

“The consensus is that the occupation of Nigerian territories across some parts of north-east, north-west, and north-central states is a clear failure of political leadership, especially under the Tinubu-led APC Federal Government,” he said.

“It is not anything that is beyond the capacity of the Nigerian security services to deal with. The government hasn’t shown the capacity to deal with it.

“Unless we have a leadership that can confront all these criminal structures and deal with them decisively, you can’t resolve these issues.

“How can a whole local government be under the control of bandits? It is unacceptable that bandits or terrorists continue to take over communities, imposing levies on citizens and disrupting farming activities.”

Abubakar added that with the “right political leadership, Nigerian security forces have the capacity to take on the insecurity confronting the country”.