Kwara Massacre: Tinubu multiplying terror, not reducing it – ADC

The killing of 170 persons in Woro community in Kaiama Local Government Council of Kwara State has introduced another frightening dimension to already worse security situation in the country.

The opposition African Democratic Congress (ADC) on Friday lashed at President Bola Tinubu, accusing him of multiplying and deepening terror instead of abating it as a Chief Security Officer of the nation.

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In a statement by the National Publicity Secretary of ADC, Bolaji Abdullahi, the party described the attack as an evidence of total collapse of security under President Bola Tinubu.

The party expressed disappointment at Tinubu’s declaration of the state of emergency in security sector with a promise of mass recruitment of young Nigerians which happened.

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The upsurge in killing across the country, the ADC said, truly reflected that, President Tinubu has ran out of ideas and measures taken by his administration were either ineffective or were merely declarations in the first place.

The party reminded Tinubu that threats by President Donald Trump of the United States was not meant to gain international approval, but to address insecurity at home so that all Nigerians can live peacefully.

The ADC said the scale and frequency of killings nationwide show that whatever steps the government claims to have taken are not working, adding that the current approach is merely redistributing terror rather than eliminating it.
The statement read in part: “The African Democratic Congress condemns in the strongest possible terms the recent gruesome killing of about 170 innocent Nigerians in Kaiama Local Government Area of Kwara State.

“This horrific massacre is one of the worst atrocities recorded in recent times and stands as a painful reminder of the complete collapse of security across the country.

“We extend our deepest condolences to the families of the victims and to the people of Kwara State, who have once again been abandoned to mourn their dead in a nation that appears incapable of protecting its citizens.”

ADC suggested that arsonists in Kwara may be those dislodged from Sokoto forest after the United States military Christmas Day bombing in Sokoto in the North West Nigeria, who are now relocating to other states due to weak internal security coordination.

The party maintained that the daily upsurge in killing across the States in the country was a manifestation of failed security policy and it is evident that Tinubu is not winning the war against terror.

“Whatever the government is doing is not defeating terrorism; it is merely redistributing it,” the ADC said.

The party said incidents ranging from mass abductions in Kaduna State to mass killings in Kwara State highlight deep structural failures in Nigeria’s internal security system.

It identified intelligence gathering, border control, inter-agency collaboration and emergency response capability as major weak points.

The ADC asked Nigerians to reflect on the President’s declaration of a state of emergency on security announced in November 2025, questioning whether it was a genuine commitment or a rhetorical response to rising domestic and international pressure.

It also recalled the announcement of a large-scale recruitment into the Nigeria Police Force as part of the emergency response.

“Tens of thousands of personnel were reportedly approved for recruitment. Nigerians deserve to know what has become of that promise. Have the recruits been employed, trained and deployed, or has the exercise quietly stalled?” the party asked.

It argued that if such measures had been properly implemented, rural communities like those in Kwara State would not have been left exposed to mass slaughter.

The ADC further criticised what it described as performative security actions witnessed last year when Nigeria projected firmness following public comments and tweets by the U.S. President on insecurity.

It said the urgency displayed at the time had since faded, raising concerns that the response was more about impressing foreign observers than protecting Nigerian lives.

The party said Nigeria’s security crisis had moved beyond the competence and capacity of the Tinubu-led administration, noting that killings had become routine while accountability had disappeared.

According to the ADC, government responses have been reduced to condolences and condemnations after each tragedy.
“The African Democratic Congress therefore calls on the Federal Government to come clean with Nigerians on the true state of national security, to account for the promised security recruitment, and to explain how it intends to stop the spread and relocation of terrorist groups across states,” the statement said.

It added, “Lives are not statistics, and governance is not public relations.”

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