The former president of Nigeria Olusegun Obasanjo has totally dismissed calls for dialogue with terrorists, urging the Federal Government to abandon negotiations and instead deploy decisive military force, including advanced technology coupled with international assistance to combat the nation’s worsening insecurity.
Obasanjo’s stern remarks were delivered on Friday, 28th November, at the Plateau State Unity Christmas Carol and Praise Festival in Jos, following a devastating surge of killings and mass abductions that have terrorized Northern communities in recent weeks.
“No matter what religion you belong to, no matter where you come from, we Nigerians are being killed, and our government seems incapable of protecting us,” Obasanjo stated, expressing widespread public frustration.
“If our government cannot do it, we have the right to call on the international community to do for us what our government cannot.”
The former Head of State of Nigeria questioned the government’s strategy of negotiation and apology, pointing to modern military capabilities.
“Before I left the government, we had the capacity to identify and locate criminals, but we couldn’t apprehend them without moving on land or by air. Now we have capacity. With drones, you can take them out. Why are we not doing that? Why are we apologising? Why are we negotiating?”
The comments arrived against a backdrop of relentless violence. The crisis was highlighted by the November 21st abduction of 315 students and 13 teachers from St. Mary’s Catholic School in Papiri, Niger State. This incident followed the kidnapping of 26 schoolgirls from Government Girls Secondary School in Maga, Kebbi State, just days earlier.
The wave of attacks has been unrelenting. Bandits raided the Palaita community in Niger State, seizing 24 people from a rice farm, including pregnant women. Simultaneously, abductions were reported in Kano and Kwara states.
The timing of Obasanjo’s speech is particularly poignant. It came after 38 worshippers, kidnapped from Christ Apostolic Church in Eruku, Kwara State, were released following government negotiations. In a stark demonstration of the ongoing threat, 10 more people—including a pregnant woman and children—were abducted from the nearby Isapa community shortly thereafter.
Obasanjo’s public condemnation placed further pressure on the administration to reevaluate its security approach as citizen anxiety reached a fever pitch.