Former Nigerian Aviation Minister Femi Fani-Kayode has stirred controversy by asserting that international communities and agencies are culpable for the recent spate of mass abductions of pupils and children by terrorists in the country.
Fani-Kayode accused the actors of having motives beyond financial gain, suggesting their involvement in destabilizing Nigeria and discrediting the government.
The ex-minister, in a press statement issued on Saturday, claimed that the abductions were orchestrated to harm the leadership of Bola Tinubu and potentially lead to the dissolution of the country.
Fani-Kayode alleged the involvement of “shady and sinister characters, international criminal cartels, foreign governments and intelligence agencies,” along with local accomplices and facilitators in the abductions.
He further argued that Nigeria had become a target for destruction and division by those perceiving the nation as a threat to their regional hegemony, strategic interests, and imperialist ambitions.
His words: “They do not want a strong, united, prosperous and regionally dominant Nigeria but would rather turn us into a pathetic and pitiful shadow of our former selves, a cowardly and quivering caricature of what we once were and a weak, divided, incredulous and headless pawn and set us up for self-destructive economic and military annihilation.”
“They know that a strong Nigeria, like a strong South Africa, would stand up to them in the arena of world politics and international affairs and ensure that our collective interests as Nigerians and Africans would be protected, and they do not want this.”
“Ask yourself, who funds the terrorists and bandits and where do they get their weapons from?
“They did it in Mali, Burkina Faso, Chad, Niger, Algeria, Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan, Egypt, Syria and so many other countries over the years and decades and now they are doing it here.
“Ask yourself who was behind the attack on a mosque in which worshippers were killed on Friday in Kaduna, and what was the purpose of this abominable and condemnable act of terror if not to destabilise us and create panic and chaos in our nation?
“Again, how is it that just a few days after the mass abduction of women in Gamburu Ngala, Borno state and just one day after the kidnapping of 280 female students in Kuriga, Kaduna state, yet another 15 students were abducted in Gidan Bakuso, Sokoto state just yesterday.
“All this nonsense must stop, and we must desist from refusing to acknowledge that we now have and indeed have always had a major problem which needs to be acknowledged and solved.
“None of these things happens by chance, and what we are witnessing is a deep-seated and long-term conspiracy to literally end our nation as we know it and throw us into a state of fear, poverty, anomie, anarchy, fratricidal butchery and carnage.
“Worst of all is the fact that our so called “best friends” and “allies” in the west and the international community are the ones behind it.
“We need help, and if we can get it from the Russians, the Chinese and even the Iranians in order to restore our peace, self-respect, freedom, dignity and prosperity, we should do so.
“Asking the West for help either in intelligence gathering, advice or covert Military operations when it comes to the fight against the terrorists and insurgents in Nigeria is like asking the big bad wolf to save little Red Riding Hood.
“It cannot work because, ultimately, they are the hidden hand behind our numerous travails, and they are the enemy.”