The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has condemned the killing of approximately 170 people in Kaiama Local Government Area, Kwara State, asserting the attack reveals ongoing failures in Nigeria’s national security strategy under President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
In a statement, the opposition party, through its National Publicity Secretary Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, described the massacre as one of the worst recent atrocities in Nigeria. The ADC questioned the effectiveness of President Tinubu’s November 2025 declaration of a state of emergency on security and his subsequent pledge to recruit thousands of new police officers. The party argued that persistent mass killings indicate these measures have either been ineffective or poorly implemented.
“This horrific massacre… stands as a painful reminder of the complete inability of the current administration to stem the tide of violence,” the statement said, while noting that increased security activities in the prior year may have been perceived as largely symbolic rather than substantive.
The ADC further argued that the geographical pattern of attacks across Nigeria suggests violence is not being reduced but merely displaced from one region to another. It cited the Kwara killings alongside mass abductions in Kaduna as evidence of deeper systemic issues, including deficiencies in intelligence gathering, border control, inter-agency coordination, and emergency response protocols.
The party called on the Federal Government to provide transparent clarification on the true state of national security, the status of promised police recruitment, and specific strategies to prevent armed groups from moving freely across state lines. “A government that cannot protect the lives of its citizens has failed in its most fundamental responsibility,” the statement concluded, adding that Nigerians require concrete action beyond expressions of condolence following such tragedies.
This incident underscores the persistent challenge of armed violence, often involving criminal gangs locally termed “bandits,” in Nigeria’s northwest and north-central regions, where local vigilante groups and military operations have so far failed to establish lasting security.
