The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has said the killing of about 170 people in Kaiama Local Government Area of Kwara State by a terror group is evidence of a total collapse of security under the President Bola Tinubu-led Federal Government.
ADC, in a statement by National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, on Friday, said the killings and rising insecurity in the country are proof that Tinubu lacks the capacity and competence to tackle Nigeria’s security challenges.
“Across the country, killings have become routine, accountability has disappeared, and government response has been reduced to condolences and condemnations in the aftermath of each tragedy, conveniently forgetting that a government that cannot safeguard the lives of its people has failed in its most fundamental duty,” the party stated.
ADC said it is evident that the president is not winning the war against terror, but is rather “merely redistributing it.”
According to the party, the increasing security challenges highlight the deep structural failures of Nigeria’s internal security system in terms of intelligence gathering, border control, inter-agency collaboration, and emergency response capability.
The party wondered what had become of the president’s much-publicised declaration of a state of emergency on security announced in November 2025.
It recalled that the presidency announced a major recruitment drive into the Nigeria Police Force as part of this emergency response.
“Tens of thousands of new personnel were reportedly approved for recruitment to strengthen internal security nationwide,” ADC further recalled.
It called on the presidency to tell Nigerians whether the declaration was a sincere commitment to restoring safety, or was it merely a rhetorical response to rising international and home-grown public anger.
“Nigerians are entitled to know what has become of that promise. Have these recruits been employed, trained, and deployed, or has the exercise quietly stalled?” ADC asked.
According to the party, if such measures were genuinely implemented, vulnerable rural communities like those in Kwara State should not be left completely exposed to mass slaughter.
ADC also expressed concern at the pattern of performative security responses the Nigerian government projected last year following public comments and tweets by President Donald Trump of the United States about insecurity in the country.
It noted that the brief display of urgency by the government “has since faded, raising legitimate concerns that the initial response was more about impressing foreign observers than about securing the lives of Nigerians.”
ADC therefore called on the Federal Government to immediately come clean with Nigerians on the true state of Nigeria’s national security.
It also urged the presidency to account for the security recruitment it announced, and to explain how it intends to stop the spread and relocation of terrorist groups across states.
“Nigeria cannot continue on this path of denial and inaction. Lives are not statistics, and governance is not public relations.
“The ADC stands firmly with Nigerians in demanding competent leadership, honest governance, and a security strategy that protects lives rather than reacts after mass graves have been dug,” the party said.
