The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has strongly condemned the recent killing of around 170 people in Kaiama Local Government Area, Kwara State. The party described the attack as proof of a total breakdown of security under the Tinubu-led Federal Government, warning that the nation’s current approach is spreading fear rather than defeating terror.
In a statement released by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC questioned the effectiveness of the Federal Government’s earlier security measures, including the promised recruitment of thousands of police officers, and demanded clarity on the actual state of internal security operations.
“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,” the statement read.
The party noted that the tragedy is even more alarming given concerns that the attackers could be linked to terrorist elements displaced by the United States’ Christmas-Day military action in Sokoto State, now relocating to other states due to weak domestic security coordination. “The net summary of this, which has now become self-evident from these 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,” the ADC added.
Linking the Kwara killings to wider national security challenges, the opposition party highlighted ongoing abductions and killings in multiple states, arguing that the incidents reflect fundamental weaknesses in intelligence, border control, inter-agency coordination, and emergency response systems.
“Whether it is the mass abductions in Kaduna or the mass killings in Kwara, both 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 statement said.
The ADC further questioned the progress of the government’s security initiatives: “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.”
“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,” the ADC stated.
Urging urgent government action, the party called on the Federal Government to reveal the current status of national security operations, account for the promised police recruitment, and lay out concrete measures to stop the spread of terrorist groups across the country.
