Former aviation minister, Mr Femi Fani-Kayode has accused Western nations and agencies of being responsible for the continued mass abduction of pupils and children by terrorists in the country.

Hundreds of children and women were kidnapped in Kaduna, Borno and Sokoto within the space of three days by terrorists.

On Thursday, terrorists abducted 287 school children in Kaduna State and on Wednesday, at least 100 Internally Displaced Persons were kidnapped in Borno State.

The Sokoto State Police Command also confirmed the abduction of 15 Almajiri students in the Gada Local Government Area of the state on Saturday.

In response to these developments, the former minister, via a press statement he issued on Saturday, stated that the abductions were intended to damage Bola Tinubu’s leadership and maybe lead to the country’s dissolution.

He said, “There are two reasons for the mass abductions and kidnappings that we are witnessing in our country today.

“Firstly to garner cash which is then sent abroad to buy more arms and fund terror and secondly to destabilise our country and to discredit and undermine the credibility of our President and the Federal Government.

“I hope and pray that someone is listening because this is precisely what we witnessed when the Chibok girls and other children were abducted over the years and the motives are the same.

“Those that think it is only about the acquisition of money are naive and ignorant.

“There is far more to it than that and there are numerous shady and sinister characters, international criminal cartels, foreign Governments and intelligence agencies and local accomplices and facilitators that are involved in this great evil.”

Mr Fani-Kayode went on to say that Nigeria had been targeted for destruction, division, and disintegration by those who regard the country as a threat to their regional hegemony, strategic national interests, and imperialist ambitions, “but most of us still don’t understand it and may never do”.

He continued: “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.”

He said, “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 be solved.

“None of these things happen 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.”