THE African Democratic Congress (ADC) has accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of tolerating criminality instead of tackling the menace headlong.

The opposition drew its conclusion from comments it attributed to the National Security Adviser (NSA)Mallam Nubu Ribadu that he referred to terrorists as his brothers.

The ADC equally questioned the justification for the comments of the Chief of Army Staff the party quotes of referring to terrorists as sons.

In a tweet on his X, the National Publicity Secretary of ADC, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi on Friday said the two positions pretend great danger and clearly indicate a deliberate mindset that harbours evil and unacceptable norms.

According to the ADC spokesman: “first it was NSA who referred to terrorists as my brothers and now the Chief of staff who referred to terrorists as my sons, these rhetorics reflect a dangerous mindset that accommodates and tolerates criminality instead of confronting it.

“When a government begins to frame terrorists in familial terms, it blurs the moral and legal lines that must remain clear in any serious security response.

“With this mindset, it is easy to understand why the current approach has struggled to protect lives and decisively end the killings. This must not be allowed to continue.”

The party said under its government, there will be no ambiguity about who bandits truly are.

“Bandits and kidnappers and terrorists will be treated the same as all enemies of Nigeria. We will establish special terrorism courts to ensure swift prosecution,” it said.

“Our counter-terrorism framework will rest on four pillars: Local level intelligence gathering; state level prevention and deterrence; national level coordination and enforcement; and regional level collaboration across neighbouring countries.

“Like in all other things, ADC will put citizens first.

“We will not cuddle terrorists. The message will be clear: there will be severe consequences for killing a Nigerian.

“A terrorist will neither be a son nor a brother. They are the enemy and will be treated as such.” (The Guardian)