2027: SDP questions Bago’s re-election bid amid mass abductions

The get together mentioned the governor ought to prioritise efforts to safe the discharge of the victims, arguing that residents dealing with persistent insecurity deserve solutions about their security earlier than one other election marketing campaign.

In a press release issued in Minna on Friday, the spokesperson for the SDP governorship marketing campaign council, Hon. Jonathan Vatsa, described the timing of the governor’s marketing campaign flag-off as insensitive to households whose family stay in captivity.

He claimed that greater than 500 individuals, together with ladies, kids and males, have been nonetheless being held by bandits in numerous elements of the state.

Giving a breakdown, Vatsa listed about 500 worshippers reportedly kidnapped throughout Friday Jummat prayers in Dakera group, Borgu Local Government Area, 16 Islamic college students allegedly kidnapped from Maikujere in Rafi Local Government Area on October 30, 2026, and 47 ladies reportedly kidnapped from their farms in Mariga Local Government Area.

He alleged that about 30 of the worshippers kidnapped from Dakera had died in captivity, whereas the remaining victims have been nonetheless being held by their captors.

The SDP spokesperson additionally raised considerations over the alleged abduction of a lady recognized as Aisha from Lavun Local Government Area, who he claimed was kidnapped whereas getting back from Kontagora after accumulating her certificates.

According to him, the woman might be compelled into marriage with considered one of her captors as a result of her mother and father couldn’t afford the ransom demanded for her launch.

Vatsa mentioned the circumstances listed by the get together may not signify the complete variety of residents being held by armed teams throughout Niger State, including that a number of different abductions may need gone unreported.

He questioned how the federal government may search one other mandate with out adequately addressing the safety scenario confronting communities, insisting that the safety of lives and property remained its major duty.

The opposition spokesperson additionally accused the governor of failing to go to communities affected by assaults to sympathise with victims and their households, regardless of the reported killings, abductions and displacement.

He significantly questioned the choice to schedule marketing campaign actions in communities affected by banditry, arguing that residents wanted the governor’s presence throughout their moments of misery.

“When the people needed you as their leader for protection, you were not there for them. The question is, what are you going to tell them?” Vatsa requested.

He additional criticised what he described as deserted tasks and an absence of seen achievements by the state authorities, attributing the in depth use of marketing campaign banners to an try to attract consideration to the administration’s re-election bid.

The SDP spokesperson maintained that the governor must be judged by his file in workplace, significantly his dealing with of insecurity and different challenges affecting residents.

Efforts to succeed in the Niger State Commissioner for Information, Hon. Obed Nuhu Nana, for the federal government’s response to the allegations have been unsuccessful, as calls positioned to his phone line weren’t answered as of the time of submitting this report.