As insurgent activities continue unabated in the North-east geo-political zone, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, has berated former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar for his recent comments on insecurity in the region, saying that some past utterances of Atiku contributed to the escalation of insurgency in the North.
Okupe said it was unfortunate that those who desperately stoked the fire of insurgency are now laying the blame on the shoulders of a government that is working hard to put out the fire.
According to him, it is a mark of unpatriotism for Atiku to talk down on the military which he hopes to lead if elected President of the Federal Republic.
The former vice-president was not known to have taken any hard position on terrorists and terrorism in the past and shouldn't expect to gain any political mileage from the unfortunate killings and kidnappings in some parts of the North by presenting himself as being on the side of the victims of insurgency. He added
Okupe said President Goodluck Jonathan would not be distracted by negative comments from Atiku and a few others whose only concern is politics rather than nation building but he (Jonathan) would continue to work assiduously with security chiefs and community stakeholders to restore peace to Northern Nigeria in the shortest possible time.
