Sowore blasts Buratai over call for fresh nationwide lockdown, faults Musa on ‘self-defense’ comment

Human rights activist and former presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, has sharply criticized former Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Yusuf Tukur Buratai (rtd.), for suggesting the imposition of a fresh nationwide lockdown as a strategy to tackle Nigeria’s worsening insecurity.

Buratai, who made the call during an interview on Channels Television, argued that a lockdown similar to the COVID-19 restrictions of 2020 could help security forces decisively combat banditry, terrorism, kidnapping, and other violent crimes across the country.

But Sowore, in a strongly worded Facebook post, dismissed the idea as “shameless,” recalling Buratai’s controversial role in the October 2020 #EndSARS protests, which were violently suppressed by security forces under his command.

“Today, this same man is shamelessly calling for another COVID-style lockdown, while the current Chief of Defence Staff, Christopher Musa, absurdly proposes ‘Kung-fu self-defense’ as a solution to insecurity,” Sowore wrote.

“This is the calibre of airheads who have ruined Nigeria — men who respond to real crises with outright nonsense.”

Sowore also took aim at General Christopher Musa, the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), who recently suggested that Nigerians should learn basic self-defense techniques to better protect themselves from criminals. The activist described Musa’s statement as a reflection of the military’s inability to address the country’s deepening security crisis.

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Buratai, who served as Nigeria’s Chief of Army Staff from 2015 to 2021, has often been associated with controversial military operations, most notably the crackdown on protesters during the #EndSARS demonstrations. His latest comments come at a time when Nigeria faces heightened insecurity, including mass abductions, rising incidents of banditry, and terrorist attacks in parts of the North.

Sowore, who has consistently criticized the political and military establishment, argued that both Buratai’s lockdown proposal and Musa’s self-defense advice highlight a failure of leadership and accountability within the security architecture.

Dr. Aisha Abdullahi, a political science lecturer at the University of Abuja, noted: “A lockdown strategy could further cripple the economy and punish ordinary Nigerians, without necessarily addressing the roots of insecurity. What is needed is intelligence-driven operations, not blanket restrictions.”

Similarly, Lagos-based human rights lawyer, Barrister Samuel Okon, said: “Sowore is right to question these suggestions. Security chiefs must offer coherent policies, not soundbites. Proposing martial arts for citizens in a country where firearms proliferate is, at best, insensitive.”

The exchange underscores the growing public frustration with Nigeria’s security leadership, as citizens demand practical solutions to a crisis that has defied successive governments.