The ruling All Progressives Congress APC has apologised to hundreds of schoolboys abducted on December 11 from the Government Science Secondary School, Kankara in Katsina state, promising that such an incident will never repeat itself.
The party in a statement on Saturday said it received with joy the release and return of the students on Friday.
In the statement which was signed by the Chairman, Caretaker Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee CECPC and governor of Yobe state, Mai Mala Buni, the party called on Nigerians not to lose hope in the capacity of government and its security agencies.
“We want to congratulate the parents of the children and also apologize on behalf of our party that one of our biggest promises was security and although we are doing our utmost best, such incidence is a sad event and must, at all costs, not repeat itself.
“When we received the news of the abduction at first, we were traumatised. We were heartbroken and this was the same for most, if not all Nigerians who heard of the unfortunate incident.
“As a party, we call on Nigerians not to lose their hope in our government and the security apparatus.
“We thank all those who made this rescue effort possible, especially the Governors of Katsina and Zamfara States, the security agents across the country.
“We do not doubt the capacity of our security agencies. We believe and know they are capable especially when they are well motivated and led, which we can assure is the case under President Muhammadu Buhari.
“We are trusting and hopeful that this episode will never repeat itself again. We encourage the Nigerian Armed Forces, the Police and other security agents to take lessons from the lapses that led to this abduction and ensure that we never see a repeat of this tragedy again.”
The party also congratulated the President for his determination to ensure the release of the boys.
“We commend President Buhari, the leader of our party for charging the security agencies to ensure that the boys were returned alive and unscathed, an instruction they executed in conjunction with the state government officials.
“We want to assure all Nigerians that the government of President Buhari will continue to do all that is necessary to secure Nigerians, their places of business, worship and learning while working with the various stakeholders at all levels to make this possible”, the statement added.
Caveat
In a separate statement, the Youth Representative in the Caretaker Committee of the party, Barr. Ismaeel Ahmed has urged Nigerians to be wary of individuals using the name of he party to make public statements.
He warned members of the party who are not part of the 13-member CECPC to refrain from speaking for the national leadership of the APC.
“The party wishes to inform the general public, especially members of the media that the members of the defunct Exco which was dissolved at the last National Executive Committee NEC meeting of the party do not speak for the party, and thus should not be quoted as such.
“We have seen statements published on the media quoting defunct members of the party’s dissolved executive and attributing it to the party; this is unacceptable and we will like to make it clear that only members of the current National Caretaker and Extraordinary Convention Committee may speak for the party”, he stated.
