By James
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The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has sharply criticised the Federal Government over the killing of about 170 people in Kaiama Local Government Area of Kwara State, describing the bloodshed as damning evidence that Nigeria’s security system has collapsed under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
In a strongly worded statement, the party said the massacre exposes the emptiness of the Tinubu’s much-touted declaration of a state of emergency on security and his promise to recruit tens of thousands of police officers across the country.
The statement, signed by the ADC’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, questioned whether the emergency measures were ever implemented beyond official pronouncements, noting that mass killings, abductions and terror attacks have continued to spread rather than subside.
“What the government is doing is not ending terrorism; it is merely relocating it,” the party said, arguing that insecurity is being displaced from one state to another while citizens remain trapped in a widening circle of fear.
The ADC condemned the Kwara killings as one of the worst atrocities recorded in recent years and extended condolences to the families of the victims and the people of the state, lamenting that areas once considered relatively safe are now engulfed by violence.
“This gruesome massacre in Kaiama is a painful reminder of a country that has failed in its most basic obligation: protecting the lives of its citizens,” the statement said. “Communities are left to mourn their dead while government responses rarely go beyond ritual statements.”
The party expressed concern that the attackers may be elements of terrorist groups recently dispersed by United States military action during the Christmas period in Sokoto State, who are now relocating to other regions due to weak intelligence coordination and porous internal security.
According to the ADC, the apparent movement of armed groups into new territories exposes serious weaknesses in intelligence gathering, border management, inter-agency cooperation and emergency response capacity.
It pointed to recurring mass abductions in Kaduna State and the large-scale killings in Kwara as clear indicators that Nigeria’s internal security framework is structurally broken and increasingly incapable of prevention or rapid response.
The party urged Nigerians to revisit President Tinubu’s November 2025 declaration of a state of emergency on security, asking whether it represented a genuine commitment or a symbolic gesture aimed at calming public anger and international concern.
The ADC also demanded clarity on the fate of the promised large-scale recruitment into the Nigeria Police Force, which was presented as a cornerstone of the emergency response.
“Tens of thousands of recruits were reportedly approved. Nigerians deserve transparency,” the statement said. “Have these recruits been employed, trained and deployed, or has the process quietly stalled while communities remain exposed?”
It argued that if such measures had been meaningfully implemented, rural communities like those in Kwara State would not have been left unprotected against coordinated attacks.
The party further accused the Federal Government of engaging in “performative security,” recalling the urgency displayed last year, following public comments by the U.S. President on Nigeria’s insecurity.
According to the ADC, that urgency has since faded, reinforcing fears that the response was more about reassuring foreign audiences than protecting Nigerian lives.
“The killings have become routine, and accountability has disappeared,” the ADC said, adding that official reactions now follow a predictable cycle of outrage, condolences and inaction.
The party called on the Tinubu administration to level with Nigerians on the true state of national security, provide a full account of the promised police recruitment, and clearly outline how it intends to stop the spread and relocation of terrorist groups across states.
“Lives are not statistics, and governance is not public relations,” the ADC warned, declaring that the nation’s security crisis has outpaced the capacity and competence of the current administration.
