PDP Reacts To Bomb Explosions In Kano And Kaduna
By Salimot Raji
Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has reacted to the bomb blasts that happened in Kano School of Hygiene and some communities in Kaduna State, Nigeria on 23 June, 2014.
In a statement issued on Wednesday by Prof. Wale Oladipo, National Secretary of the ruling party, it was stated that such acts of terrorism could be linked to anti-government forces.
The party noted that many innocent Nigerians were killed and several others wounded in the attack and expressed worry at the spate of mindless killings in the country.
While condemn the explosion, it added that they were aimed to cow the people, destablise the polity and destroy the future of the nation.
“We invite Nigerians to note the pattern and timing of the attacks which betray a trend, tailored against the PDP and the Federal Government.
“We have observed that it has become a recurrent decimal that whenever the PDP or the Federal Government records or is about to record a major milestone, insurgents launch attacks on the people.
“The most recent being the Kano and Kaduna attacks which came at the wake of PDP’s victory in Ekiti State on June 21,” the statement said.
The attacks according to the party, were ahead of the ground-breaking and unveiling ceremony of the Centenary City by President Goodluck Jonathan on June 24.
“It is not a mere coincidence that bombs went off in Nyanya, a suburb of Abuja on April 14, killing over 100 innocent citizens.
“This was at a time the world focused on Nigeria for the hosting of the 25th World Economic Forum in Abuja.”
It stated further that, it was not a mere coincidence that the Chibok school girls were abducted by insurgents within the same period, adding, the attacks were part of a plot to divert attention and paint the Federal Government as incompetent and the nation as unsafe.
The Nyanya bombing, in the party opinion was deliberately timed to stop the PDP rally already scheduled for April 16 in Kano.
This, it said, followed apprehension by some elements that the rally might expose and spell doom for their political hold on the state.
PDP noted in the statement, “it was not a mere coincidence that insurgents attacked and bombed Jos Terminus Market, killing hundreds of Nigerians on May 20, two days before the shelved PDP mega rally in Ekiti State.”
It said further that the attack was planned to ultimately stop the rally for fear that it would further the already soaring popularity of the PDP in the state and noted that the attacks scaled up after President Goodluck Jonathan performed the ground breaking ceremony of the Second Niger Bridge in March, also to divert attention from that achievement.
The party called on Nigerians to critically examine the timing and mode of the series of attacks, since the emergence of the current administration and make deductions regarding whose interest they served.
“some elements are using the attacks to attempt to slow the tempo of governance and further their efforts to discredit the PDP-led administration, as a means to achieve political control.”
It re-stated that Nigerians could neither be cowed nor intimidated, adding that as a party entrusted with the sacred mandate of leadership, the PDP would remain steadfast in its commitment to Nigerians and the Nigerian project.
The party commiserated with the families of those who died in the recent attacks and prayed for speedy recovery for the wounded.
It called on Nigerians to continue to be alert and resist attempts by desperate enemies of the country to destroy its common heritage and the unity enjoyed by its citizens.