A civil society group, the Coalition Against Terrorism and Extremism in Nigeria (CATE) has warned the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and it’s presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar to quit playing politics with fallen national heroes.

Ahead of the 2019 elections, the opposition appears hell bent on dragging the ruling party to the mud – despite a recent pre-dusk raid on 157 Task Force Battalion in Metele, Borno State.

The group made this known in a press statement signed by its National Coordinator, Gabriel Onoja.

According to CATE, the PDP is trying too hard to undermine the remarkable progress of the Nigerian military under the current dispensation which has helped to push Boko Haram to fringes of the Lake Chad only.

CATE expresses its condolences to the Federal Government of Nigeria, the Military and the families and loved ones of the departed soldiers but is of the view that their memory should not be desecrated by those turning their sacrifices into campaign barbs.

“We specifically refer to the statements issued by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and its presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. They both only stopped short of mocking the fallen soldiers by the utterances and misrepresentation of facts contained in their responses to the attack and the resulting deaths.