Rescued Oyo Victims: Atiku Says Presidency Is Either Lazy or Embarrassed

Atiku Abubakar has fired back at the Presidency over the rescue of the abducted Oyo victims, saying the government’s reaction suggests either laziness or embarrassment. His response escalates an already bitter exchange over how the kidnapping crisis was handled and how the eventual rescue should be interpreted.

The former vice president’s criticism comes after the Presidency tried to frame the rescue as a security success. Atiku, however, argued that the administration’s tone missed the point and failed to confront the deeper failures that allowed the abduction to happen in the first place. He said Nigerians should not be distracted by celebratory language when the central issue remains the vulnerability of schoolchildren and teachers to armed gangs.

Atiku has been one of the most vocal critics of the Tinubu administration’s handling of insecurity, and the Oyo abduction has given him another opportunity to attack the government’s record. He has repeatedly accused officials of responding too slowly to kidnappings, of normalising violence and of treating grave security failures as public relations exercises instead of emergencies.

The latest clash also reflects a broader political battle over who gets credit when abducted victims are freed. Atiku’s camp appears determined to prevent the Presidency from turning the rescue into a headline achievement without acknowledging the long period of fear, uncertainty and public pressure that preceded it. That argument resonates with critics who say successful rescue operations should not erase the conditions that made them necessary.

The Presidency, for its part, has been trying to present the rescue as evidence that the security agencies can still deliver under pressure. But Atiku’s counterattack suggests that opposition figures will continue to challenge that narrative and insist on a harder conversation about prevention, intelligence failures and the safety of vulnerable communities.

The use of words like “lazy” and “embarrassed” shows how sharply the political temperature has risen around the issue. It also underlines how insecurity has become one of the most potent tools in Nigeria’s political fights, with each side trying to shape public perception of both the crisis and the response.

For Atiku, the larger point is that the government should be judged not by how it speaks after a rescue, but by how it prevents abductions in the first place. He and other critics argue that if schools remain exposed, communities remain afraid and kidnappers continue to operate with confidence, then a successful operation does not amount to a satisfactory security strategy.

The exchange is likely to deepen the blame game around the Oyo incident, even as families affected by the abduction are more concerned with safety, recovery and stability than political arguments. Still, the episode has become another flashpoint in the national debate over insecurity, governance and the credibility of official responses.