President Bola Tinubu says individuals involved in kidnapping must be treated as terrorists. Tinubu, who condemned the “reprehensible acts” perpetrated by kidnappers across the country, spoke on Tuesday at a Ramadan dinner with members of the federal judiciary led by Olukayode Ariwoola, the chief justice of Nigeria (CJN).
In a statement by Ajuri Ngelale, presidential spokesperson, Tinubu said those who resort to kidnapping children are cowards and incapable of confronting the might of the Nigerian armed forces.
“We must treat kidnappers as terrorists. They are cowardly. They have been degraded. They look for soft targets. They go to schools and kidnap children and cause disaffection. We must treat them equally as terrorists in order to get rid of them, and I promise you, we will get rid of them.”
On the review of the salaries of judicial officers, the president pledged that his administration would continue to implement necessary reforms to improve the welfare and working conditions of judicial officers.
“I recognize that the judiciary has one of the most unrewarded responsibilities. They are yet to modernize equipment and recordkeeping, and their progress towards improvement is slow,” he said.
When you look at the career path of a judicial officer, they cannot practice the vocation for which they were trained after retirement. “While the framers of the law may have their reasons, I perceive this differently and see this from a fair compensation angle that should benefit all.”
Tinubu expressed gratitude to the judiciary for its dedicated service to the nation and for upholding the respectability of the judicial arm of the government.
“We will continue to support one another and bring Nigeria to that glorious dawn,” he concluded.
