TheCable

A civil society group, the Coalition Against Terrorism and Extremism in Nigeria (CATE), has accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar of playing politics with fallen national heroes.

The group said this following the comments which trailed the killings of over 100 soldiers by insurgents in the north-east.

Gabriel Onoja, national coordinator of the group, said PDP is trying too hard to undermine the remarkable progress of the military under the current dispensation.

“A tragic attack on the military outpost in Metele village, Guzamala local government area of Borno state, has become the latest incident that these politicians have latched upon to ply their dangerous ware of objectifying the nation’s fallen heroes that have sacrificed their lives for the safety and security of other citizens,” he said in a statement.

“We specifically refer to the statements issued by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and its presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. They both only stopped short of mocking the fallen soldiers by the utterances and misrepresentation of facts contained in their responses to the attack and the resulting deaths.

“The PDP in its reaction sought to drag the military into partisan politics as it relied on insinuations and speculations to conclude that the presence of the Service Chiefs at an event in Abuja is itself enough to have allowed Boko Haram terrorists overrun the outpost.

“On his part, the PDP candidate, Atiku Abubakar, is calling for an investigation of what happened at the 157 Task Force Battalion in Metele, while completely feigning ignorance of the role he and his party, the PDP played in ruining the military before the present government commenced the efforts of rebuilding it to its current strength.

‘It is well known in the land that they created these problems, which the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration is decisively dealing with. Had Atiku as a Vice President for eight year and the PDP as a ruling party for 16 years done the needful and developed the country in the period they were in the saddle, Nigeria would have been a better place by now. The grinding poverty in the land, to which they were the precursor, remains the single largest factor making it possible for Boko Haram to continue having a pool of dejected people to recruit from.”

CATE expressed its condolences to the federal government and the families and loved ones of the departed soldiers.