Dare Babalola
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has strongly condemned President Bola Tinubu’s attendance at a fishing festival in Argungu while terror attacks and abductions continue to plague the country.
In a statement signed on Sunday by National Publicity Secretary Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the party accused the President of getting his priorities wrong and losing touch with reality.
The ADC expressed grave concern over the deteriorating security situation, citing reports of nearly 1,300 Nigerians killed in 41 days and hundreds still in captivity, including nursing mothers and children.
The party also highlighted a video allegedly released by terrorists, challenging official figures on the number of abducted victims in Kaiama, Kwara State.
The statement read, “The President and Commander-in-Chief was in Argungu attending a fishing festival, even as credible reports indicate that nearly 1,300 Nigerians have been killed in the last 41 days.
“Once again, innocent Nigerians and their families are left to bear the tragic brunt of terror while the President fiddles away a festival.”
The ADC warned that the growing boldness of armed groups in Kwara State indicates the government may be losing control of a strategic part of the country, potentially providing terrorists a foothold into other regions.
The party noted that the Kaiama axis provides a direct link into Oyo State, and any sustained insurgent activity could create wider vulnerabilities across parts of the North Central and South West.
The statement further emphasized that the situation in Kwara State must not be treated as an isolated incident but as a potential early warning of geographic expansion by terror actors.
The ADC reiterated its longstanding position that the payment of ransom to terrorists, whether directly or indirectly, risks further entrenching the criminal economy that sustains mass abductions.
The party called for immediate action from the Federal Government, including mounting a robust rescue operation to bring every abducted Nigerian safe home, issuing a full and transparent public briefing, ordering an urgent security audit of the Kaiama and Kainji Lake forest corridor, deploying strengthened interstate security coordination across the Kwara, Niger, and Oyo axis, and maintaining regular and credible public communication to restore confidence and deny terrorists the advantage of propaganda.
The ADC emphasised that Nigerians are tired of the APC-led government’s assurances on security while citizens continue to be slaughtered, and urged the Federal Government to take concrete actions to protect the people.
The party vowed to continue holding the government accountable and supporting every credible effort to defeat terrorism and reclaim every part of the national territory.
The statement concluded, “Nigeria must never appear weak in the face of terror.”
