The African Democratic Congress (ADC) and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar have separately called upon the Nigerian federal government to provide clear explanations regarding the release of kidnapped citizens from various bandit dens across the country. Both parties have expressed significant concerns about the secretive and troubling methods employed to secure the freedom of these hostages, including worshippers abducted from Christ Apostolic Church (CAC), Oke-Isegun, Eruku, Kwara State, and schoolchildren taken from Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School, Maga, Kebbi State.

Malam Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC national publicity secretary, addressing newsmen in Abuja, conveyed the party's joy that the citizens were reunited with their families. However, he immediately raised alarms about the conflicting narratives from government officials, which he stated suggested a lack of honesty with Nigerians regarding the circumstances of the releases. Abdullahi explicitly accused the administration of negotiating deals with insurgents, citing as particularly alarming the Inspector General of Police’s statement that perpetrators of the Kwara church attack were not arrested because they “came out voluntarily for the peace talk.” Similarly, he highlighted Presidential Spokesman Bayo Onanuga’s suggestion that abductees were released because security operatives “asked them nicely.”

The ADC posed critical questions: Is the Nigerian government paying ransom to insurgents? What exactly was exchanged for the purported “surrender of weapons” by the kidnappers? And if these bandits did surrender weapons, what prevents them from acquiring new ones and continuing their criminal activities, especially if they are not apprehended and brought to justice? The party emphasized the lack of justice for families of victims killed by these criminals if their murderers are allowed to go free merely for a “quick-win” celebration by the government.

The ADC voiced deep concern that if negotiation with bandits becomes the government’s primary strategy for combating insurgency and the surge in kidnappings, Nigeria would be on a perilous and misguided path. The party characterized this approach as a shortcut, rather than a decisive confrontation of the problem, arguing that appeasing insurgents in this manner effectively expands the “banditry economy.”

Furthermore, the ADC reacted strongly to state governments’ closure of schools due to escalating kidnappings. While acknowledging it might be seen as a safe short-term option, the party warned that it sends a dangerous message to terrorists. Abdullahi stated that “A government that quietly negotiates with insurgents and then shuts down schools to avoid further kidnappings has, in effect, conceded ground to terror.” He asserted that by closing schools, the current administration reinforces the very ideology upon which Boko Haram was founded, thereby signaling weakness where strength is imperative. The party spokesman also alleged that the government appeared unaware of the exact number of schoolchildren kidnapped recently, calling it a “damning indictment” of an administration claiming to prioritize citizen security. The ADC lamented the quiet abandonment of the Safe Schools Initiative and Safe Schools Programme, which were designed to bolster security around learning environments and prevent mass abductions.

The ADC urged the government to choose leadership over fear. They contended that if schools are unsafe, the logical response is reinforcement, not retreat. The party called on the Federal Government to immediately deploy the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) to all Federal Unity Schools to ensure children can return to classrooms safely. They stressed that protecting schools is a constitutional responsibility and that capitulation only emboldens terrorists, increases community fear, and steers Nigeria away from security and stability. The ADC concluded its statement by urging decisive, transparent, and responsible action: “Reopen the schools. Secure the schools. Bring our children home. And show Nigerians — and the world — that this nation will not bow to terror.”

Concurrently, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar fiercely criticized the President Bola Tinubu-led administration. He asserted that the release of abducted Nigerians is “not a trophy moment,” but rather a stark reminder that terrorists now operate freely, negotiate openly, and dictate terms, while the administration issues press statements merely “to save face.” Atiku raised several pointed questions concerning the releases: If, as Presidential Spokesman Onanuga claimed, the DSS and military could “track” the kidnappers in real-time and “made contact” with them, why were these criminals not immediately arrested, neutralized, or dismantled? Why is the government boasting about engaging in talks with terrorists instead of eliminating them? He questioned why kidnapping has been reduced to “a routine phone call between criminals and state officials.”

Atiku condemned what he termed an “irresponsible and reckless narrative,” which he claimed exposes the truth that “under Tinubu, terrorists/bandits have become an alternative government — negotiating, collecting ransom, and walking away untouched — while the presidency celebrates their ‘compliance’.” He reiterated that no serious nation applauds itself for negotiating with terrorists it claims to have under surveillance, nor does a responsible government congratulate itself for allowing abductors to return to forests to kidnap again. Atiku challenged Onanuga and his colleagues to “stop insulting Nigerians with propaganda,” arguing that if security agencies indeed had eyes on the kidnappers, then allowing them to escape constitutes a national disgrace that suggests complicity. Conversely, if they lacked such capacity, then Onanuga is “simply manufacturing lies to cover up a monumental failure of leadership.” Atiku concluded by stating that the administration’s statement is an “embarrassing admission that this administration has lost control of national security and is now trying to spin incompetence into achievement,” emphasizing that Nigerians deserve protection, not “fairy tales by moonlight.”