PDP links increased insurgency in Nigeria to anti-government forces

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said on Tuesday that the increasing spate of terrorist activities and bomb explosions in the country was the handiwork of anti-government forces.

In a statement issued by the National Secretary of PDP, Wale Oladipo in Abuja, the party said it received with deep sadness the news of Monday’s bombing at the School of Hygiene in Kano, as well as attacks on some Kaduna communities in which many innocent Nigerians were killed and several others wounded.

It noted: “Indeed, we are deeply worried by the spate of mindless attacks, which are aimed to cow the people, destablise the polity and destroy the future of the nation.

“While we condemn in very strong terms these wicked and senseless attacks on our citizens, we invite Nigerians to note the pattern and timing, which betray a trend tailored against the PDP and the Federal Government”.

“We have observed that it has become a recurrent decimal that whenever the PDP or the Federal Government records or is about to record a major milestone, insurgents launch attacks on the people, the most recent being the Kano and Kaduna attacks, which came at the wake of PDP’s victory in Ekiti State last Saturday and ahead of the ground-breaking and unveiling ceremony of the Centenary City by President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday.”

The statement continued: “Was it a mere coincidence that bombs went off in Nyanya in Abuja on Monday, April 14, 2014, killing over 100 innocent citizens at a time the world focused on Nigeria for the hosting of the 25th World Economic Forum in Abuja? Was it also a mere coincidence that the Chibok school girls were abducted by insurgents the following day? Were these attacks part of a plot to divert attention from the gains of the Forum and paint the Federal Government as incompetent and the nation as unsafe?

“Was the Nyanya bombing deliberately timed to stop the PDP rally already scheduled for Tuesday, April 16, in Kano following apprehension by some opposition elements that the rally may expose and spell doom for their precarious political hold on the state?”

The statement added: “Was it mere coincidence that insurgents attacked and bombed Jos Terminus Market, killing hundreds of Nigerians on Thursday, May 20, 2014, two days before the shelved PDP mega-rally in Ekiti State? Was the attack not planned to ultimately stop the rally for fear that it would further the already soaring popularity of the PDP in the state?

“Was it also a mere coincidence that these attacks scaled up after President Goodluck Jonathan performed the ground-breaking ceremony of the Second Niger Bridge in March, also to divert attention from that achievement?

We wonder if it was also a coincidence that insurgents attacked the Mamudo Government Secondary School in Yobe, killing 41 school children and a teacher on July 6, 2013, a day after President Goodluck Jonathan flagged off the rehabilitation of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

“We are compelled to invite Nigerians to critically examine the timing and mode of the series of attacks since the emergence of the current administration and make deductions regarding whose interest they serve.

“Are there elements who desperately use these attacks to attempt to slow the tempo of governance and further their efforts to discredit the PDP-led administration as a means to achieve political control?”.

“We had earlier raised our concerns over a connection or correlation between the attacks and the capacity of a major opposition party to thrive. We noted that a party, which had lost its voice, suddenly regained its drive and impetus after the abduction of the Chibok school girls and the Nyanya bomb blasts.

“However, we wish to restate that Nigerians can neither be cowed nor intimidated. As a party entrusted with the sacred mandate of leadership, the PDP will remain steadfast in our commitment to Nigerians and the Nigerian project. The PDP sincerely commiserates with the families of the deceased, even as we pray for speedy recovery for the wounded. Our hearts and prayers go to them all.

“Finally, we call on all Nigerians to continue to be alert and resist attempts by desperate enemies of our country to destroy our common heritage and the unity we enjoy as a people”, the statement added.