The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has denied claims that the abduction of some students from a boarding school in Kankara,
Katsina State on Friday, December 11, was not stage-managed.
Some Nigerians have claimed that the abduction of the boys was stage-managed.
Mohammed dismissed the claim when he appeared on a special edition of the Nigeria Television Authority programme, “Good Morning Nigeria’’
According to him, it doesn't make sense for any administration to stage-manage abduction of students or any of its citizens.
“What precisely does the government want to achieve? Is it to prove the deficiency of the military or what. In the case of Dapchi, we had all kinds of bizarre theories. You have to be in government to know how many sleepless nights the president, ministers and head of security outfits spent until the matter is resolved,’’ he said
He added that many people were disappointed that the Kankara abduction was resolved so fast just like that of Dapchi.
“Many naysayers would have loved the incident to linger and become the igniting rod for their attacks. Otherwise, how do we describe the spurious organisation like the Bring Back Our Boys that emerged within a few days of the capture of the students? Within a few days of the abduction, the so-called organisation had moved to Katsina. When you have a situation like this, naysayers who are bent at bringing down the government will come up with all kinds of theories that do not make sense. Dapchi abduction was in 2018, how come two years down the lane, nobody has come out to tell us how it was stage-managed?” he asked
He appealed to Nigerians and other interest groups to stop politicising and commercializing issues of security and national tragedy.
“In times of crisis and tragedy, people normally come together to address the issue. It is not a time to politicise and even trade or commercialise the misery and tragedy of a nation. We can have our differences but when it comes to issues of security, we should come together and fight it'' he said
