Former President Olusegun Obasanjo says Nigerians are within their rights to call for international assistance as insecurity worsens across the country, accusing the Federal Government of failing in its primary duty of protecting citizens.
Speaking at the Plateau State Unity Christmas Carol and Praise Festival in Jos, Obasanjo criticised the government’s continued negotiations with bandits, stressing that Nigeria should instead take decisive action and deploy modern technology against terrorists.
His comments follow a wave of recent attacks and mass abductions in the North. In Niger State, 315 students and 13 teachers were kidnapped from St Mary’s Catholic School, while 26 schoolgirls were abducted in Kebbi. Another 24 farmers, including pregnant women, were seized in Shiroro, and separate incidents in Kano and Kwara led to about 20 more kidnappings.
“We Nigerians are being killed, and our government seems incapable of protecting us,” Obasanjo said. “If our government cannot do it, we have the right to call on the international community to do for us what our government cannot.”
The former President added that Nigeria now has the capability — including drone technology — to locate and eliminate terrorists, and questioned why authorities continue to apologise and negotiate rather than take decisive action.
