Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar, has faulted President Muhammadu Buhari on the release of supposedly repentant Boko Haram members urging him to stop.
He lent his voice to the Borno Elders Forum in calling for a halt to the practice, noting that he had been vindicated because he had on two occasions in 2018 advised the against releasing repentant insurgents.
However, he said the President wouldn’t listen to him.
In a statement signed by his Media Adviser, Paul Ibe, on Saturday, Atiku said, “Any right thinking person can see that the escalation of the war on Nigeria by Boko Haram/ Islamic State’s West Africa Province, coincides with the introduction of this repugnant policy by the Muhammadu Buhari administration.
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“Buhari should cast his mind back to the testimony of Abba Umar, a Boko Haram commander, who after his arrest, boasted that he would return to join the sect in Sambisa if he was ever released.
“Buhari should show a single-minded resolve and commitment to defeating the common enemies of our nation and to do so without betraying any weakness, as this will only embolden the terrorists.”
The former vice president said if elected president, any member of the terrorist group captured would not be release, but rather would be punished.
The Waziri of Adamawa said under his administration, criminals will not be allowed to profit from their criminality.