Three days after presidential spokesperson Femi Adesina claimed that insecurity is being “played up” to spoil the achievements of President Buhari’s regime, over 40 persons have been killed in violent attacks across the country.
Mr Adesina had in an article on Thursday night August 12, said “Some people want to downplay infrastructure, and play up insecurity, all in an attempt to vitiate the achievements of the Buhari administration.”
But, events across the country over the weekend negates Mr Adesina’s claims as Nigerians witnessed violent attacks and scores of deaths.
A former councillor, Hassan Tukur, was killed by gunmen in Zamfara state on the same day Mr Adesina published his article.
Similarly, two policemen were killed by unknown gunmen who attacked the Izombe Police Divisional headquarters, Oguta Local Government Area of Imo State.
At Rukuba, Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau state, 25 commuters were killed by hoodlums on Saturday August 14. Similarly on the same day, eight farmers were killed by bandits in two villages, Buruku and Udawa, of Chikun Local Government Area, Kaduna state.
In Goronyo Local Government Area of Sokoto State, bandits killed nine persons on Sunday August 15. The nine people were killed in Begindo, Dantudu and Tulutu villages.
In the late hours of Sunday, bandits killed four students and abducted 15 persons at the College of Agriculture and Animal Health in Bakura, Zamfara.
Before Mr Adesina falsely claimed that insecurity is being “played up” in the country last Thursday, bandits in several coordinated attacks have kidnapped students in their hundreds for ransom across Katsina, Kaduna, Kebbi, Niger and Zamfara states.
Over 100 students kidnapped in Tegina, Niger State, are still in bondage, more than 70 days after they were kidnapped in May. Similarly, students kidnapped in Kebbi State are yet to be freed.
In July, a Nigerian Airforce jet was bombed down by bandits in Zamfara, a development many Nigerians described as an act of terrorism.
Last week governor Aminu Masari of Katsina, Mr Buhari’s home state, lamented that 10 out of 34 local governments in his state were under the control of bandits, while urging Chief of Army staff, Yahaya Faruk to delpy technology in combating insecurity in the state.