The Allied Peoples Movement (APM) has lambasted the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu over the deteriorating security situation in the country, stating that over 600,000 Nigerians had been slain since the administration took over in May, 2023.
The party also challenged President Tinubu and the Minister of Defence, General Christopher Musa (rtd.) to embark on a road trip without armed security escorts if, as alleged by the federal government, the security situation in the country had improved, Sunday Guardian reports.
The APM, in a statement yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Abubakar Yusuf, accused the administration of living in denial of the extent of insecurity facing Nigerians.
It said no fewer than 2.2 million Nigerians, including women and children, were abducted throughout the period under consideration.
The party was responding to recent comments attributed to Musa claiming the security situation in Nigeria has improved under the Tinubu administration.
APM said the statement of the minister was at contradiction with the realities being faced by Nigerians across the country and also findings by foreign bodies on terrorism and insecurity.
The party highlighted the Global Terrorism Index (GTI) 2026, which it said placed Nigeria the fourth most insecure country in the world, as against sixth position in the last edition.
“The APM condemned the minister’s claim of better security as a “dangerous distortion of reality,” noting that Nigerians continued to experience killings, kidnappings, displacement, rape and other acts of crime.
“It is deeply disappointing for a minister of the Federal Republic to appear on national television to make such claims at a time when millions of innocent Nigerians are being killed, kidnaped, displaced and terrorised in various parts of the country,” it stated.
The opposition party also accused the administration of not being attentive to the situation of families afflicted by insecurity, claiming that communities across the country continued to face attacks by terrorists, bandits and kidnappers.
It also quoted data credited to SBM Intelligence, suggesting Nigerians spent more than N7.78 billion as ransom between July 2025 and June 2026, defining kidnapping for ransom as a highly monetised criminal industry.
The party said it was particularly concerned about the mass abductions in Niger State, where it claimed over 600 persons, including women, children and elderly people were abducted from Dekera, Gidan-Zana and Sabon Gida communities.
The claimed victims were still in captivity, the APM stated, and accused the federal government of not doing enough to address the security problem.
The party also attacked what it said were efforts by government officials to play down abductions, saying the administration had at one point dismissed such instances as a “family affair”.
It said the development highlighted a divide between the administration and the realities of the average Nigerians.
“If the security situation has indeed improved as claimed by the administration, the APM challenges the President, the Minister of Defence and other senior officials of the Tinubu Presidency to travel by road without armed security details as other Nigerians must do,” it added.
The party said the increasing security situation was a clear indication that the administration had failed to establish and implement an effective plan to counter terrorism, banditry and kidnapping.
It said Nigeria could not afford another four years of what it called a “incompetent administration,” and urged people to back its presidential candidate, Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde, in the 2027 election.
The APM stated that Makinde has a roadmap that can solve insecurity and the many difficulties facing the country.
The party urged Nigerians not to despair but to remain committed to changing the government through the ballot, insisting that the Tinubu administration will end in May 2027.
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