Former Nigerian Vice President, Atiku Abubakar has said the despicable act of kidnapping underscores the dire state of the nation’s security and the gross failure of the leaders to protect its citizens.
The 2023 People’s Democratic Party Presidential candidate who disclosed this on his social media platforms while reacting to the reported kidnap of two Journalists and their wives and children by bandits in Kaduna.
Gunmen suspected to be bandits in large numbers on Saturday night invaded Dahjonu Community in Millennium City of Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State
The report added that two journalists, The Nation’s Abdulgafar Alabelewe and Blueprint newspaper’s AbdulRaheem Abdu as well as their wives and children were abducted at about 10:30pm in the community.
Atiku in his reaction said, “These abductions are damning indictments of our leaders’ failure to secure the safety of citizens and an intolerable breach of press freedom (as it relates to the journalists).
“In these perilous times, the courageous sentinels of truth, our journalists, stand as beacons of light, unwavering in their duty to hold power accountable. 
“Yet, they find themselves besieged not only by the terror of abductors but also by the government that continues to assault their freedom through arrests and detention”, the Vice President added.
He recalled the kidnap of 78-year-old Mr Takai Shamang, President and Founder of Gantys Aid for Widows, Orphans and Needy Foundation (GAWON).
Who also the former President General of the National Union of Electricity, Gas Workers (now known as National Union of Electricity Employees) between 1982 and 1989.
Atiku said, “before then, Janet Galadima- Gimba, a customary court judge in the same Kaduna, had been abducted and released. But her sons are still in captivity, with the abductors reportedly making a demand of N150 million as ransom.
He also disclosed that elsewhere in Katsina, 75-year-old Hauwa’u Adamu, mother of the popular Hausa singer, Dauda Kahutu Rarara, or Rarara, as he is fondly known was kidnapped on Friday.
The former Vice President who said his thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of the abducted, called upon the security agencies to act decisively, without delay to secure their release but to prioritise intelligence gathering and sharing.
