Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has sharply criticized the Presidency over comments made by presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga regarding the release of citizens recently held by bandits.

The controversy stems from Tuesday’s rescue of 24 schoolgirls abducted from Government Girls Secondary School, Maga, in Kebbi State. Following the rescue operation, President Bola Tinubu — through a statement by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga — commended the coordinated efforts of the security agencies that led to the girls’ freedom.

Onanuga had earlier appeared on Arise Television, where he disclosed that operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) and the military made direct contact with armed groups responsible for abducting 38 worshippers from the Christ Apostolic Church, Oke Isegun, in Eruku, Kwara State.

According to him, the rapid communication with the kidnappers and the pressure from state authorities allegedly compelled the bandits to release their captives.

However, Atiku has dismissed the presidential spokesman’s account as an embarrassment, arguing that such a narrative raises deeper questions about the government’s capacity and intentions.

In a statement released Wednesday by his media office, Atiku condemned the admission that security agencies were able to reach the terrorists yet failed to apprehend or neutralize them.

He described it as a troubling signal that armed criminals now operate openly and negotiate freely while the government portrays such exchanges as victories.

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) stalwart argued that boasting about negotiating with terrorists amounts to an astonishing display of irresponsibility, especially when those same criminals are permitted to return unchallenged to their hideouts.

Titled “Atiku to Tinubu: Nigerians Need Protection, Not Fairy Tales By Moonlight,” his statement accused the administration of celebrating incompetence instead of prioritizing decisive action.

“The comments made by Mr. Onanuga on Arise News were nothing short of a shameful attempt to disguise a national tragedy as an achievement,” Atiku said. “The release of abducted Nigerians should never be treated as a badge of honour; it is a stark reminder that terrorists now set the terms while the government issues congratulatory statements.”

He further questioned the logic of claiming to have tracked kidnappers “in real time” without apprehending them.

“If the DSS and military were indeed in direct communication with these armed groups, why were they not arrested or dismantled immediately? Why is the government applauding itself for merely holding conversations with terrorists instead of confronting them?” he queried.

According to Atiku, such statements only reinforce the perception that bandits have become “an alternative government,” extorting citizens, collecting ransom, and escaping without consequences while the authorities indulge in self-praise.

“No serious government boasts about negotiating with terrorists it claims to be monitoring,” he said. “If security agencies truly had the kidnappers within reach, then allowing them to vanish back into the forests is disgraceful. And if that capacity never existed in the first place, then Mr. Onanuga is simply concocting stories to mask a catastrophic failure.”

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He concluded that the Tinubu administration has lost its grip on national security and is attempting to spin its shortcomings into accomplishments.

“Nigerians do not need bedtime stories,” Atiku said. “They need real protection — not propaganda.”