Former Nigeria’s President, Olusegun Obasanjo, has berated what he described as seeming failure of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led administration to wipe out bandits terrorising the country, questioning the rationale behind the government reportedly negotiating with armed groups.

The former President said this on Friday while speaking at the Plateau Unity Christmas and Praise Festival, ongoing at the Ten Commandments Prayer Altar, Dwei-Du, Jos South LGA of Plateau State.

According to him, Nigerians are at liberty to seek help from the international community if their own government fails in its core responsibility.

He noted that despite Nigerians, across regions and religions being killed, the Nigerian government seems incapable of protecting its citizens, describing the killings as “nonsensical.”

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“We are part of the world community. If our government cannot do it, we have the right to call on the international community to do for us what our government cannot do for us. If we are being killed, it is the responsibility of government to do something about it.

“We should ask government to do what it has to do at all levels. We should ask our leaders to do what they have to do at all levels, in all walks of life,” he said.

Continuing, Obasanjo stated that the world is advanced enough for anyone to hide anywhere and go scot-free after committing a crime.

“In these days of technology, there should be nobody hiding anywhere after he has committed a crime that cannot be seen with the present day satellite,” he added.

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Recalling his time as Nigeria’s President, Obasanjo said the opportunity of drones has now made it easy for anyone to be picked out from anywhere unlike his time.

“Before I left government, I knew we had the capacity to pick up anybody in Nigeria. The capacity we didn’t have then was that, after we had identified and located such a criminal, we didn’t have the capacity to pick him up without moving on land or by air. Now we have capacity with drones. You can take them out. Why are we not doing that?

“Why are we negotiating? And after government has paid these criminals, government denies!

“We should appeal to our government to do what needs to be done to stop Nigerians being killed.

“We are tired of being killed, and we want the killing of Nigerians, whether they are Christians or Muslims or pagans, they are Nigerians, and the life of every Nigerian matters. It should stop,” he stressed.

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Jonathan has explained why he returned to Nigeria aboard an Ivorian aircraft following the recent political unrest in Guinea-Bissau, saying President Bola Tinubu had also prepared to dispatch a jet before Côte d’Ivoire secured an earlier landing permit.

Jonathan, who was in the country as head of the West African Elders Forum Election Observation Mission, spoke in an interview with Symfoni posted on YouTube on Friday, his first public comment since gunfire erupted around key government institutions in Bissau, prompting reports of a possible coup.

He said he felt compelled to speak “to thank Nigerians for the show of empathy and encouragement” after the incident, noting that he was aware of the national anxiety that followed the reports.

“While we were in Bissau and this so-called coup happened, the information we got was that the whole country was agitated, young and old, irrespective of religious or political divides,” he said.

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According to him, both President Tinubu and Côte d’Ivoire’s President Alassane Ouattara made arrangements to evacuate him and his delegation from Bissau.

However, the Ivorian team secured landing clearance first due to what he described as stronger regional links.

“And I sincerely appreciate Nigerians, and I want them to hear directly from my mouth to appreciate their concern. And secondly, to thank my president, President Tinubu, and the Ivorian president, President Ouattara.

“Both presidents were to send aircraft to lift us, but somehow you know Côte d’Ivoire is closer to Guinea-Bissau, and there’s always some relationship between the Francophone countries and the Lusophones, who are among the Francophones.

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“They were able to penetrate their system to get a a landing permit before Nigeria could do that. So the Ivorian aircraft was already on its way to pick us up,” he said.

He explained that Côte d’Ivoire’s aircraft was already en route when he was informed that the Nigerian jet had received approval to depart.

“So when we learnt that the Nigerian aircraft were about leaving, we asked them not to bother. That is why, if you see the pictures, I was brought by an Ivorian aircraft,” he said.

Jonathan thanked the two West African leaders “and indeed Nigerians, young and old” for their concern during the episode.

“So we thank the two presidents, President Wachara and President Tinubu, and indeed thank Nigerians, young and old, for that,” he said.

Former President Goodluck Jonathan has insisted that the recent military coup in Guinea-Bissau “was not a coup” and described it as “maybe a ceremonial coup.”

Gunfire had erupted around key government institutions in Bissau on Wednesday as soldiers claimed to have “total control” of the country.

President Umaro Sissoco Embaló also said he was arrested in his office at the presidential palace, sparking panic and prompting the military to impose a curfew, suspend the electoral process, close borders, and detain senior officials, including top military and interior ministry figures.

The Federal Government condemned the development as “a serious threat to democracy and regional stability,” and confirmed that Jonathan, who was in the country as head of the West African Elders Forum Election Observation Mission, was safely evacuated by a special flight alongside members of his delegation.

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In an interview with Symfoni posted on YouTube on Friday, Jonathan said he was compelled to speak to the media to thank Nigerians for their concern during the crisis and to clarify the situation.

“You know, since I left office, I’ve always been scared of talking to the media. But in this particular case, I decided to speak… first and foremost, to thank Nigerians for the show of empathy, the encouragement,” he said.

He explained that during the so-called coup, Guinea-Bissau’s President, Embaló himself announced that he had been arrested before the military made any public declaration.

“I wouldn’t call it a coup. It was not a coup. I would just say, for want of a better word, maybe it was a ceremonial coup. Because for two things: It is the president, President Embaló, who announced the coup. Later, the military men came up to address the world that they were in charge of everywhere.

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“Then Embaló had already announced the coup, which is strange. Not only announcing the coup, but Embaló, while the coup took place, was using his phone and addressing media organisations across the world that he had been arrested,” Jonathan said.

The former president expressed disbelief at the manner in which the incident unfolded, comparing it to other military takeovers in West Africa.

“I’m a Nigerian close to 70, and I know how they keep heads of state when a coup takes place. Recently, I was a mediator in Mali. And within that period, we had a military coup.

“The military doesn’t take over governments, and the sitting president that they overthrew would be allowed to be addressing press conferences and announcing that he has been arrested. Why does this happen? Who is fooling whom?” he asked.

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Jonathan also called on ECOWAS and the African Union to ensure the timely announcement of election results, stressing that the military should not interfere with the democratic process.

“Basically, what happened in Guinea-Bissau is quite disturbing to me, who believes in democracy. They have the results because AU and ECOWAS officials were in all the regions when the results were collated. They cannot change those results.

“They should tally all those results and announce them. They cannot force the military out. They must announce and let the world know who won that election. Let the world know who won that election,” he said.

He further recalled his experience overseeing elections in Côte d’Ivoire, emphasising that election outcomes must be respected.

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“A similar thing happened in Côte d’Ivoire when I was the Chair of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS. “When we had elections in Côte d’Ivoire in 2010, Laurent Gbagbo was the sitting president. In the first round, Gbagbo got forty-something per cent of the votes, and Alassane Ouattara got thirty-something per cent of the votes.

“And their law, you must get 50 per cent of the votes plus one, at least. Democracy is about the majority. You must get a simple majority to be the president, so they had to go for a second round.

“When they went for the second round, all those other candidates that lost now supported Ouattara, and Ouattara then got more votes than Gbagbo. And Gbagbo said he was not going, that he won the election, and that Ouattara and somebody who had something could not come and defeat him. But that is their law.

“Then all the observers in the international community said Ouattara won the election. And we in ECOWAS said, well, you are our colleague, but you have to go. If the observers, everybody, say Ouattara won the election, Ouattara must be sworn in as the president of Côte d’Ivoire. I stood my ground as the Chair of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS, and Ouattara was sworn in,” he said.