Former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has called for intelligence gathering and sharing to curb the surge in kidnapping in the country in recent time.
Atiku in tweet on Sunday, said these abductions are indictments on leadership failure to secure the safety of its citizens.
He condemned the target on journalists, describing it as “an intolerable breach of press freedom.”
Atiku who commended the courageous reportage and unwavering stance of journalists “in their duty to hold power accountable,” regretted that “they find themselves besieged not only by the terror of abductors but also by a government that continues to assault their freedom through arrests and detention.”
The former presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), noted that the kidnapping has extended to the 78-year-old President and Founder of Gantys Aid for Widows, Orphans and Needy Foundation (GAWON) Mr Takai Shamang.
Shamang is also former President General of the National Union of Electricity and Gas Workers (now known as the National Union of Electricity Employees) between 1982 and 1989.
“Before then, Janet Galadima-Gimba, a customary court judge in the same Kaduna, had been abducted and released.
“But her sons are still in captivity, with the abductors reportedly making a demand of N150 million as ransom.
“Elsewhere in Katsina, 75-year-old Hauwa’u Adamu, mother of the popular Hausa singer, Dauda Kahutu Rarara, or Rarara, as he is fondly known was kidnapped on Friday,” Atiku stated.
According to him, “this despicable act underscores the dire state of our nation’s security and the gross failure of our leaders to protect its citizens.”
He called on the security agencies to act decisively and without delay to secure their release, and sympathised with the families and friends of the abducted.