Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has criticised the Federal Government over the handling of the recent Kebbi schoolgirls’ abduction, questioning why their release is being celebrated instead of addressing the broader security failures.

In a statement from his media office on Wednesday, Atiku said the girls’ return “is not a trophy moment” but “a damning reminder that terrorists now operate freely, negotiate openly, and dictate terms while this administration issues press statements to save face.”

His comments were in response to Presidential Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, who told Arise News TV that the Department of State Services (DSS) and the military tracked the kidnappers in real time and established contact to secure the girls’ release without paying ransom.

Atiku dismissed this as “a shameful attempt to whitewash a national tragedy and dress up government incompetence as heroism,” asking: “If the DSS and military could track the kidnappers in real time and make contact with them, why were these criminals not arrested, neutralised, or dismantled on the spot? Why is the government boasting about talking to terrorists instead of eliminating them? Why is kidnapping now reduced to a routine phone call between criminals and state officials?”

He added that the narrative suggests “terrorists and bandits have become an alternative government, negotiating, collecting ransom, and walking away untouched, while the presidency celebrates their compliance.”

“No serious nation applauds itself for negotiating with terrorists it claims to have under surveillance. No responsible government congratulates itself for allowing abductors to walk back into the forests to kidnap again,” Atiku said.

The abduction occurred on November 17, when armed assailants attacked Government Girls’ Secondary School in Maga, Kebbi State, killing a staff member and abducting 25 students from their dormitory.