The Peoples Democratic Party has condemned President Bola Tinubu’s administration for keeping quiet following bandits’ attack on a church in the Kurmin Wali community, Kajuru LGA of Kaduna, and kidnapped scores of Christians.

In a statement by its spokesman, Ini Ememobong, on Wednesday, the party said, “The federal government’s silence and the outright denial by the Kaduna State @PoliceNG and Kajuru local government chairman regarding the kidnapping of approximately 163 worshippers in Kajuru community represents a dangerous pattern recurrent in the course of this administration—the normalisation of insecurity and a deliberate attempt to obscure the truth from Nigerians.” 

The residents of the community reported on Sunday that bandits invaded the community and kidnapped scores of worshippers. 

However, the Kaduna police commissioner, Muhammadu Rabiu, in a joint statement with local government officials, said the report was false. 

Police spokesperson Benjamin Hundeyin, in a statement, later confirmed the incident after the Christian Association of Nigeria released details on the kidnapped victims.

The PDP said, “These denials are deeply hurtful, not only because they are evidently false, but because they reveal the manifest levity with which this administration treats serious matters like security. 

“What makes this even more painful is that, according to the villagers, the police were immediately alerted when the kidnapping occurred. They had the opportunity to act. Instead, they chose denial, prioritising the government’s image over the lives of 163 Nigerians.”

The opposition party demanded “an immediate public apology” from the police commissioner and the chairman of Kajuru LGA. 

It urged the federal government to “immediately deploy a high-powered security team to trace, rescue, and safely return these kidnapped Nigerians to their homes and families”.