APM tackles defence minister over claim on insecurity, says terrorism not defeated

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The Allied Peoples Movement (APM) has criticised the Minister of Defence, Christopher Musa, over his claim that Nigeria has defeated terrorists and that insecurity has improved under President Bola Tinubu.

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The party said the minister’s assertion was a distortion of the security situation in the country, arguing that Nigerians continue to face killings, abductions, displacement and other forms of violence.

Mr Musa, while speaking earlier on Channels Television’s Politics Today, said terrorist attacks were no longer as rampant or brazen as they had been in the past, adding that kidnapping had become more prevalent.

Asked whether Nigeria had defeated terrorists or merely displaced them, the minister said, “Frankly speaking, we have defeated terrorists because now, like I said, the attacks are not as rampant and it is now.”

Mr Musa also described kidnapping as a “social ill,” noting that there were cases of wives kidnapping their husbands and husbands kidnapping their children.

He maintained that security had improved under Mr Tinubu and that reports of terrorist attacks were no longer as frequent as they were previously.

However, in a statement on Saturday signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Abubakar Yusuf, the APM condemned the minister’s position, describing it as an attempt by the administration to downplay the country’s worsening insecurity.

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The party cited the 2026 Global Terrorism Index (GTI), claiming that Nigeria had risen from sixth place in the 2025 index to fourth place among the world’s most terrorism-affected countries.

The APM said it was “deeply disappointing” that a minister of the federal republic would make such claims while Nigerians continued to suffer killings, kidnappings and displacement.

The party alleged that the situation had exposed what it described as the Tinubu administration’s “insensitivity” to the plight of Nigerians facing killings, rape, abductions for ransom and captivity by armed groups.

It further claimed that more than 600,000 Nigerians had been killed and at least 2.2 million others abducted during the three years of Mr Tinubu’s presidency.

The APM also referred to the reported abduction of hundreds of people in Niger State, saying about 600 Nigerians, mostly women, children and elderly people, were abducted from Dekera, Gidan-Zana and Sabon Gida communities and remained in captivity.

The party cited data from SBM Intelligence, which it said showed that kidnapping for ransom had become a highly monetised industry, with more than ₦7.78 billion paid as ransom between July 2025 and June 2026.

The APM accused the administration of being either “dangerously disconnected from reality” or deliberately attempting to manipulate public perception by denying the scale of insecurity in the country.

It particularly faulted the minister’s description of some kidnapping cases as a “family affair,” saying abduction remained a serious security threat to Nigerians.

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“If the security situation has truly improved as the administration claims, 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,” the statement said.

The party further accused Mr Tinubu of lacking the capacity to develop and implement a blueprint capable of tackling insecurity, saying Nigeria could not survive another four years under what it described as a “hopeless and incompetent administration.”

The APM, however, urged Nigerians not to despair and called on them to support its presidential candidate, Seyi Makinde, in the 2027 election.

It said Mr Makinde had a blueprint to address insecurity and other challenges confronting the country.

Mr Tinubu is seeking re-election in 2027, while the APM said its candidate would offer an alternative to the incumbent administration.