Kwara mass killings show your security measures not working, ADC tells Tinubu

By Lateef Ibrahim, Abuja

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has condemned the killing of about 170 people in Kwara State, describing the attack as evidence of a total collapse of security under the Tinubu-led Federal Government.

The ADC said this in a statement on Friday by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi in Abuja.

The coalition party questioned what had become of the President’s declaration of a state of emergency on security and the promised recruitment of thousands of police officers, noting that the continued mass killings suggest those measures were either ineffective or were mere declarations in the first place.

The party also wondered whether the heightened security activities seen last year in the aftermath of the comments by the U.S. President was mere posturing to earn international approval rather than genuine efforts to end insecurity in the country.

According to the ADC, the scale and frequency of killings across the country since then has shown that whatever measures the government has taken since then is not working, indicating that government approach is merely redistributing terror rather than eliminating it.

The statement by Abdullahi reads, “The African Democratic Congress (ADC) condemns in the strongest possible terms the recent gruesome killing of about 170 innocent Nigerians in Kaiama Local Government Area of Kwara State.

“This horrific massacre is one of the worst atrocities recorded in recent times and stands as a painful reminder of the complete collapse of security across the country.

“We extend our deepest condolences to the families of the victims and to the people of Kwara State, who have once again been abandoned to mourn their dead in a nation that appears incapable of protecting its citizens.

“As many analysts have noted, what makes this tragedy even more troubling are growing concerns that the perpetrators may be part of terrorist elements recently dispersed by the United States Christmas-Day military action in Sokoto State, who are now relocating to other states due to weak internal security coordination.

“The net summary of this, which has now become self-evident from this industrial scale killings in areas hitherto considered safe, is that the Tinubu administration, whatever it is doing, is not winning the war against terror, it is merely redistributing it.

“Whether it is the mass abductions in Kaduna or the mass killings in Kwara, both highlights the deep structural failures of Nigeria’s nternal security system in terms of intelligence gathering, border control, inter-agency collaboration, and emergency response capability.

“Nigerians are therefore compelled to ask serious questions. What happened to the President’s much-publicised declaration of a state of emergency on security announced in November 2025? “Was it a sincere commitment to restoring safety, or was it merely a rhetorical response to rising international and home-grown public anger?

“The ADC also recalls 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.

“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? If such measures were genuinely implemented, vulnerable rural communities like those in Kwara State should not be left completely exposed to mass slaughter.

We are equally disturbed by the pattern of performative security responses witnessed last year, when Nigeria suddenly projected an image of firmness following public comments and tweets by the President of the United States drawing attention to insecurity in the country.

‘That brief display of urgency has since faded, raising legitimate concerns that the initial response was more about impressing foreign observers than about securing the lives of Nigerians.

“The painful truth is that Nigeria’s security crisis has clearly moved beyond the competence and capacity of the Tinubu-led Federal Government.

“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”, it said.

The African Democratic Congress therefore called on the Federal Government to immediately come clean with Nigerians on the true state of Nigeria’s national security, 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, the party maintained, cannot continue on “this path of denial and inaction”,adding, ” 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”, it said.