Reported by: Oahimire Omone Precious | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
The Allied Peoples Movement has issued a direct and provocative challenge to President Bola Tinubu and Defence Minister General Christopher Musa, daring them to travel by road without armed security escorts if they truly believe Nigeria's security situation has improved. The opposition party's challenge comes in response to recent comments by the Defence Minister, who claimed that the Federal Government had defeated terrorists and that insecurity had significantly reduced, arguing that kidnapping had become more of a social ill than a national security threat.
In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Abubakar Yusuf, on Saturday, September 5, 2026, the APM accused the Tinubu administration of "living in denial" over worsening insecurity and faulted Musa for claiming that the country's security situation had improved. The party argued that the government's assessment does not reflect the reality faced by ordinary Nigerians. "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," Yusuf declared.
The APM's challenge was triggered by comments made by General Musa during a television interview on Tuesday, September 1, where he stated that the government had made significant progress in tackling terrorism and that the pattern of insecurity had shifted towards kidnapping. "Frankly speaking, we have defeated terrorists because now, like I said, the attacks are not as rampant and it is now kidnapping," Musa said. "I can tell you there is improved security. Maybe if you noticed, you don't hear so much of Boko Haram attacks, ISWAP attacks and all these things here and there, maybe one-off." The minister argued that the trajectory of violence had moved from criminality to kidnapping, terrorism, and insurgency, and that the government was now pushing it back downward.
However, the APM described the minister's assessment as a "dangerous distortion of reality," pointing to Nigeria's ranking in the 2026 Global Terrorism Index, which placed the country fourth among nations most affected by terrorism, up from sixth place in 2025. The party argued that the government cannot claim victory against terrorism while Nigeria continues to rank among the most insecure countries in the world. The APM alleged that more than 600,000 Nigerians had been killed and no fewer than 2.2 million others, including women and children, had been abducted during the Tinubu presidency. The party cited the recent abduction of about 600 people from Dekera, Gidan-Zana and Sabon Gida villages in Niger State, where victims, mostly women, children and elderly people, remain in captivity.
The APM also cited data from SBM Intelligence, which it said showed that kidnapping for ransom had evolved into a highly monetised industry, with more than N7.78 billion allegedly paid in ransom between July 2025 and June 2026. The party accused the government of being either dangerously disconnected from reality or deliberately manipulating public perception by downplaying the scale of the crisis. "Our party is disturbed that the administration is either dangerously disconnected from reality or is deliberately attempting to manipulate public perception by denying the actual situation in the country," Yusuf said.
The APM also argued that the worsening insecurity reflected what it described as the government's failure to develop and implement an effective strategy for containing the crisis. It warned that Nigeria could not afford another four years under what it described as an "ineffective administration." Turning its attention to the 2027 election, the party urged Nigerians not to despair but to support its presidential candidate, Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde, whom it said had a blueprint for tackling insecurity and other challenges facing the country. "The APM urges Nigerians not to despair but to remain steadfast in their resolve to vote for our presidential candidate, the people's candidate, Engr. Seyi Makinde, who is ready with a blueprint that will address the insecurity and other challenges brought upon our nation by the Tinubu-led administration," Yusuf said.
As the 2027 elections draw nearer, the APM's challenge has placed the spotlight squarely on the government's security record and the widening gap between official claims and the lived reality of millions of Nigerians who continue to face the daily threat of violence, abduction, and displacement. Whether President Tinubu and General Musa will accept the APM's challenge remains to be seen, but the question now hangs over the administration: if security has truly improved, why can't the leaders who claim victory travel without the protection they deny to the citizens they govern?
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