Insecurity: Atiku is a “questionable patriot”, engages in selective outrage – Presidency

The Presidency on Monday accused the former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of selective outrage, described him as a “questionable patriot.

The criticism followed Atiku’s reaction to Sunday airstrikes on Jilli Market by the Nigerian Armed Forces that led to the killing of 50 civilians.

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Atiku in his tweet accused the military of targeting civilians, instead of terrorists, saying: “While targeting insurgents, innocent Nigerians were once again reduced to collateral damage. How long will citizens remain unsafe both from terrorists and from the very operations meant to protect them.”

Responding to Atiku’s tweet on Monday, Sunday Dare, Special Adviser, public communication to the president, in his X handle, @SundayDareSD, dismissed the ADC chieftain’s reaction to the weekend incident as selective outrage.

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The presidency maintained that Atiku deliberately feigned ignorance of the fact that Jilli market is a trading hub of insurgents and non-state actors.

“For Atiku Abubakar to ignore this context and frame a legitimate military action as an attack on civilians is not only misleading; it is reckless. It risks distorting public understanding and undermining the morale of those on the frontlines who are daily risking their lives to secure the country.”

The presidency expressed concern that the opposition party chieftain who has consistently criticised the present administration of lack of capacity to deal frontally with insurgents would still turn around to condemn decisive, intelligence-driven action.

“That is not principled opposition, it is opportunism.”

Dare’s post read: “At a time when our Armed Forces are taking the fight directly to terrorist enclaves, it is both disappointing and telling to see Atiku Abubakar politicize the recent airstrikes at Jilli Market by alleging that the government is targeting civilians.

“Over the weekend, the Nigerian Air Force carried out targeted, intelligence-led airstrikes on insurgent positions within and around the Jilli axis, where the market though still geographically identifiable, has for years been overtaken and repurposed as a logistics and trading hub for terrorist elements, including BHT and ISWAP.

“Let us be clear: while the location may still be referred to as “Jilli Market,” it has not functioned as a legitimate civilian marketplace in any meaningful sense.

“By multiple credible accounts, it has evolved into an operational node within the insurgency’s supply chain—facilitating movement, coordination, and sustenance of violent actors.

“For Atiku Abubakar to ignore this context and frame a legitimate military action as an attack on civilians is not only misleading—it is reckless.

“It risks distorting public understanding and undermining the morale of those on the frontlines who are daily risking their lives to secure the country.

“What remains difficult to reconcile is the contradiction. He consistently criticizes the government for failing to curb insecurity, yet when decisive, intelligence-driven action is taken, he is quick to condemn it. That is not principled opposition—it is opportunism.

“At some point, clarity must prevail. You cannot dine with the devil and still pretend to stand with the masses.

“Nigeria deserves seriousness, not selective outrage.

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