*Wants UN To Declare Girls Kidnap A War Crime
The war of words between the ruling All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party, over the abduction Dapchi School Girls continued yesterday with the opposition party accusing the Buhari administration of stage managing the entire episode.
Spokesman of the APC, Mr. Bolaji Abdullahi had on Wednesday issued a statement hailing President Muhammadu Buhari for the “prompt” rescue of the students.
He took a swipe at the Goodluck Jonathan administration for failing to rescue the Chibok girls, who also were kidnapped by Boko Haram.
President Buhari had earlier said his response to the kidnap of the Dapchi students is much better than Jonathan’s reaction to the abduction of Chibok girls.
But speaking on behalf of the PDP, its National Publicity
Secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, accused the APC and certain officials in the Presidency for staging the
abduction of the schoolgirls in Dapchi, Yobe State, for political
purposes.
“Our Party considers this act as wicked, callous and tormenting to use
innocent schoolgirls as pawns in an ignoble script that was designed to
hoodwink Nigerians and orchestrate a great rescue and security prowess
of a conquering general, all to push a 2019 re-election bid, is an
un-pardonable gamble with human lives”, Ologondiyan said.
The spokesman of the PDP further said: “the Dapchi drama remains a poorly crafted tragicomedy: a
scam of no equal dimension, Nigerians are not ready to forgive the APC
and the Presidency for the torments inflicted on the girls, their
parents and the human community worldwide just to score a cheap
political point”.
“Nigerians know that the main aim of this devilish act was to delude the
public, set the stage for an orchestrated rescue, create a heroic myth
and false sense of achievement around the APC administration and serve
as a spur for President Muhammadu Buhari’s declaration to contest the
2019 presidential election, perhaps in the coming weeks”.
Ologondiyan said his party is seeking that the United Nations declare as a war crime, the reported absence of the police and army from the community, which allegedly led to the insurgents easily abducting the students.
He said : “As a political party, we want to further state unequivocally that by all
ramifications, this is a war crime against humanity and gross violation
of human rights on the part of the APC administration, all in the bid to
push a selfish and ill-lucked 2019 ambition.
“There is no evidence that the Boko Haram insurgents or any militant
group abducted the schoolgirls in the first place. Rather, what is
evident to all is the high level official manipulation of security
movements in Dapchi both in the staged abduction and the returning of
the traumatised schoolgirls.
“It is instructive to note that till date, no report has been presented
by the National Security Adviser (NSA), who has been charged by
President Muhammadu Buhari with investigation of the abduction. This is
in addition to deliberate efforts by the government to suppress free
flow of information around the abduction.
“Even the regular Nigerian on the street has examined the events leading
to this abduction of our daughters as well as their release and can
deduce the obvious.
“Nigerians are all aware that both the abduction and return of the
schoolgirls were dramatically preceded by questionable withdrawal of
troops and all security apparati at checkpoints and flashpoints in the
Dapchi area.
“They are also aware that the Buhari Presidency, as the principal command
center of military operations, has refused to come out clear on the
compromising of security and why no arrest has so far been affected in
the entire saga, thus betraying a high-level of government conspiracy
against the citizens for political reasons.
“The PDP therefore calls on the United Nations (UN) and the International
Criminal Court to declare this evil by the APC Federal Government a war
crime against humanity and immediately commence investigation on the
matter. We demand the arrest and prosecution of all those involved in
this saga.
“In the same vein, we join Nigerians to demand for the setting up of a UN
monitored Truth Commission to unravel the facts around the Dapchi event
as well as the abduction of Schoolgirls in Chibok, Borno State in 2014″.
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