Senator Joshua Lidani (PDP, Gombe) has blasted the federal government on its usual payment of abduction ransoms to Boko Haram terrorists.
According to Sen. Lidani, these acts have overtime “empowered” the terrorists to keep attacking people.
The lawmaker’s submission stemmed from a motion moved by Sen. Bukar Abba Ibrahim (APC, Yobe) on Thursday which urged on a timely intervention from the federal government and to prevent similar experience of the Chibok girls.
Reacting to the motion, the lawmaker from Gombe south said: “We have observed of recent that, this spate of kidnappings happens whenever the Boko-Haram are being severely attacked or are on the run. They devise a means of going to abduct people so that they would negotiate with the federal government for ransom.
“It happened with the recent abduction of Maiduguri staff that was on an exploration. The government negotiated with them and they got money. Now they have been empowered, even with police officers wives, federal government went and negotiated with them and they were given money.
“We need to be very proactive in this case because the idea of sitting down to always negotiating and paying ransom with this action, we are empowering the boko- haram so that they would continue to do more. This may not be the end of it because after this, if they have abducted these girls, they will demand for ransom and if the ransom is paid, it means they would continue to engage in this.”
The lawmaker also tackled President Muhammadu Buhari who according to him has not said anything, adding that “the nation ought to hear from the president. He ought to say something.”
He asked President Buhari to be empathetic as exemplified by President of the United States, Donald Trump who visited the school where shooting incident took place.
He said: “When there were killings in the United States in a school, the President himself went to that school to sympathize with the students and the parents but here all alone we have had this, since the time of the Chibok girls, we have heard killings, abductions and Mr. President ought to sympatise.
“He ought to utter words of sympathy he ought to come on television and say one thing or the other. It would bring comfort to those who are in distress. People will have the feeling that the President has them in his heart.”
The Senate then resolved that the Federal Government “quickly recover the girls so as not to repeat the issue of the Chibok girls’ experience.”