Former presidential candidates Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar have launched scathing critiques against the current administration, condemning the alarming escalation of insecurity across Nigeria.
Their condemnations follow a recent surge in mass killings that has claimed hundreds of lives in various parts of the country.
Atiku Abubakar, speaking in the wake of devastating attacks in Plateau and Borno States, accused President Bola Tinubu’s administration of overseeing a “total collapse” of Nigeria’s security architecture.
He asserted that “the failure of Tinubu’s security architecture has now become an endemic nationwide phenomenon with repeated killings” and called for a complete overhaul of the national security strategy.
In a post on X, Atiku further highlighted that the “Tinubu administration has proven… utterly incapable, wholly incompetent, and completely devoid of any coherent ideas for tackling Nigeria’s deepening security crisis.”
Peter Obi, who recently visited victims in Plateau and Imo States, described the pervasive violence as a “failure of leadership” and “a gaping wound in the soul of our nation.”
He urged decisive action, stating, “when children are butchered and villages are burned, and we do nothing, we are not a country.”
Obi also appealed for the necessary political will to match security efforts, particularly after meeting affected families in Imo, vowing to push for the arrest and prosecution of those responsible.
This chorus of criticism comes as President Tinubu himself expressed outrage following a mass killing by gunmen in Benue State, where at least 150 villagers were slain last weekend
. He denounced the “senseless bloodletting” and ordered an intensive security crackdown, visiting Makurdi, Benue’s capital, to console survivors.
The President also admonished police for the slow pace of arrests, demanding immediate action.
ALSO READ : Nigeria loses $500M annually to abandoned containers- SEREC warns
In a related development, Northern governors, united under the Northern States Governors’ Forum, also condemned recent mob and bandit attacks, labeling them “gross violations of human rights” and urging the federal government to provide urgent security interventions.
These strong condemnations arrive amid intensifying communal violence in Nigeria’s North-Central and North-East regions.
Analysts warn that without decisive reforms and robust policy implementation, insecurity will continue to escalate, threatening the lives and livelihoods of countless vulnerable communities already struggling with longstanding clashes over land, water, and grazing routes.