Peter Obi, the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party, LP, has lamented over the worsening insecurity in the country.
In a statement via his official X handle on Thursday, Obi said it is sad and very worrisome that some Chibok school girls are still in Boko Haram captivity after 10 years.
He called for decisive action to free the remaining Chibok girls still in captivity, stating that the victims have continued to undergo different traumatic experiences at the hands of their abductors.
The former Governor of Anambra State termed the situation heartbreaking and said that every patriotic Nigerian should be worried about it.
Obi further warned that insecurity anywhere in the nation remains a threat to security everywhere in the nation.
He said: “It is saddening and very worrisome that 10 years after the unfortunate kidnap of over 250 young girls from Chibok in Borno State, 91 of them have continued to remain in captivity.
“What is more distressful is that a decade later, the situation of insecurity in the nation has continued to worsen with almost every part of the country experiencing different levels of security threats.”
Obi said the remaining girls still in captivity “puts a serious question mark on our compassion as leaders, who have not been able to save the young girls from their abductors, especially when you consider that the 91 is not just a number, but young girls from different families suffering in captivity for a decade.
“In the last decade, our security situation has continued to worsen. We are today among the 5th most terrorised countries in Africa and the 10th most dangerous countries in the world.”
According to the LP candidate, “Nigeria now ranks 144 out of 163 countries measured on the global peace index, showing a high level of unrest and violence within our borders. Nigeria now ranks 10th in Africa’s most unsafe countries for women.”
He quoted a “report by SBM Intelligence” that said, “Since 2019, there have been 735 mass abductions in Nigeria, while between July 2022 and June 2023, 3,620 people were abducted in 582 kidnapping cases with about 5 billion naira ($3,878,390) paid in ransoms. In the first 3 months of 2024 alone, about one thousand Nigerians were kidnapped.
“I urge the government and our security agencies to make more efforts to free the remaining Chibok girls from this long decade of captivity and reunite them with their families.”
