Festus Keyamo, the Minister of State for Labour, claims that he can travel by car from Abuja to Kaduna unaccompanied by security personnel.
In an interview with Channels TV, Keyamo—who is also the spokesperson for the All Progressive Congress (APC) presidential campaign—made the assertion.
He said, “Some people do, I can do it. I can do it. I saw headlines last week saying that I said insecurity has been brought to an all-time low by Buhari. I didn’t say so. It’s still the season of wrong headlines. I said what we met on the ground, Boko Haram in the northeast. I was specific and so they quoted me generally to say Boko Haram and insecurity throughout the whole country. I only said Boko Haram in the northeast, it has not been totally wiped out, but we have reduced this significantly.
“All the roads that lead to Chibok and Damboa in Borno, they are now passable. The issue of the farmer-herder crisis came to a height between 2017 and 2020. The World Terrorism Index said so. Not me. The body also said the attacks reduced so much in 2021. And further reduced again now in 2022. So, it’s a downward spiral in terms of the farmer-herder crisis.
“In terms of banditry and kidnapping, they are on the rise in the north-west and some parts of the middle belt. I have admitted that.”