)
)
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has blamed the menace of insurgency and the rise in terror groups across the nation on the inadequacies of leaders who succeeded former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Atiku, who flew the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) presidential banner in the 2023 election, made the assertion during a visit by stakeholders from Kogi East Senatorial District, led by former Kogi State Deputy Governor, Simon Achuba, in Abuja during the week.
He said the country's leadership should be held responsible for the prevailing security challenges.
“So I hold our leadership responsible for all the insecurity that is going on all over the place,” he said in a video shared on his official Facebook handle.
)
)
)
ALSO READ: Insecurity: 2 killed in fresh Boko Haram bomb attack in Borno
The former Vice President recalled how Obasanjo, whom he deputised, decisively quelled the Boko Haram group when it reared its head in Yobe State over two decades ago.
“You remember when the Boko Haram started in Yobe? It was actually in 2002. We were in the office. The president sent for me. ‘VP, what do we do about this?’ Then I said, ‘Mr President, let’s call the Service Chiefs and give them a deadline. If they can’t put it down, then they should put down their uniform and go away. We will get some other people.
“So, I will say there’s a lack of political will on the leaders. When they’re killing your citizens, how can you even eat? They’re killing your citizens and you don’t give a damn; that is the greatest irresponsibility by any political leader, anywhere," he added.
Nigeria has been battling the Boko Haram insurgency, whose intention is to install an Islamic caliphate in Nigeria, for 15 years, with more than 40,000 killed and around two million more displaced.
ALSO READ: Troops bust fuel station supplying terrorists in Borno