The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has sounded a renewed warning over what it calls a dangerous and fast-growing criminal economy fueling banditry and kidnapping nationwide.
The party cautioned that insecurity has evolved into a highly organised enterprise and urged the Federal Government to end the politicisation of national security.
This was made known by the PDP’s National Publicity Secretary, Ini Ememobong, during AIT programme ‘Democracy Today’, on Wednesday, where he said the government’s current strategy is exacerbating the situation.
According to him, available national data already shows that banditry, kidnapping and terrorism have grown into “a trillion Naira economy,” making it clear that the problem has become far more complex than the government admits.
Ememobong condemned the practice of making public pleas to kidnappers and bandits for the release of victims, calling it a weak approach that empowers criminal elements.
He instead urged the Federal Government to issue a clear and decisive directive to completely stop all forms of violent attacks across the country.
He further accused government officials of indirectly legitimising criminality by engaging in talks with armed groups, stressing that such actions send the wrong message to citizens especially in a nation where civilians are not legally permitted to carry arms.
For him, it demonstrates a collapse of authority when individuals carrying illegal weapons can sit across the table from state actors.