JUST-IN: Kebbi Schoolgirls; Zamfara APC Accuses PDP Controlled Govt of Sabotaging National Security

The Zamfara State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has launched a blistering attack on the state’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) administration, accusing it of deliberately undermining federal efforts to rescue 24 female students abducted from Government Comprehensive Secondary School, Maga, Talata-Mafara Local Government Area of Kebbi State on Wednesday.

In a strongly worded statement issued Friday by the APC Publicity Secretary, Yusuf Idris Gusau, the party described a recent press release by the “dissolved” Zamfara PDP as “shameful, disgraceful and unpatriotic,” claiming it was designed to sabotage President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s directive to the Minister of State for Defence, Dr Bello Mohammed Matawalle, to personally coordinate the rescue operation.

The APC statement highlighted that President Tinubu cancelled a scheduled trip to the G20 Summit in South Africa immediately after receiving news of the abduction – a move the party contrasted with previous administrations under Presidents Goodluck Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari, during whose tenures the Chibok, Dapchi, Jangebe, Kankara and Birnin Yauri abductions occurred without similar presidential cancellations of foreign engagements.

“Instead of sympathising with the people and government of Kebbi State, the Zamfara PDP chose to issue a statement that can only be described as felony,” the APC said, questioning whether the PDP-led state government has “a partnership with bandits terrorising the North-West.”

The party further accused Governor Dauda Lawal of abandoning security responsibilities, alleging that banditry has worsened dramatically in the two years since he took over from Matawalle in 2023.

It claimed all major roads in the state are now closed by 6:00 pm, many have become “death traps,” and travellers are forced to detour through Sokoto State to reach Gusau, the state capital.

The APC also repeated earlier allegations that the PDP government harbours bandits and that some armed political thugs travel in the governor’s convoy, citing past incidents where innocent citizens were reportedly shot.

In a direct challenge, the party asked the PDP spokesman, Halliru Andi, to tell Zamfara residents “whether the security situation has improved or escalated” since Governor Lawal took office, noting that the governor had promised during his 2023 campaign to end banditry within two months.

The statement praised former Governor Matawalle’s past efforts against banditry and expressed confidence that, in his current role as Minister of State for Defence, he will successfully coordinate the rescue of the 24 abducted Kebbi schoolgirls.