Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has strongly criticised President Bola Tinubu over the rising wave of killings and abductions across Nigeria, accusing the Federal Government of responding to tragedies with “empty statements” instead of decisive action.
Reacting to the abduction of schoolchildren and teachers in Ogbomoso, Oyo State, as well as the killing of several residents in Katsina State, including a pregnant woman, Atiku said Nigeria was facing a frightening collapse of leadership and security.
In a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, the former presidential candidate expressed sadness over the murder of one of the abducted teachers and condemned what he described as the government’s repeated pattern of reacting only after lives had been lost.
“At a time when armed criminals are abducting schoolchildren, slaughtering innocent citizens, and turning communities into graveyards, President Tinubu’s response remains the same tired ritual: condemn the killings, threaten that the perpetrators will face the ‘full wrath of the law,’ and then wait for the next massacre,” Atiku stated.
“Nigerians have heard this script too many times. It has become painfully predictable and utterly meaningless.”
The former vice president accused Tinubu of “governing by obituary statements,” insisting that Nigerians deserve more than repeated condolences and public outrage after attacks.
“Enough of the recycled outrage. Enough of the empty threats. Nigerians are dying, and this government keeps responding with press releases,” he said.
“A President who only finds his voice after blood has been spilled is not leading but presiding over failure.”
Atiku argued that the attacks in Ogbomoso and Katsina were part of a broader national security crisis where criminals now operate without fear of consequences.
“When terrorists can invade schools, abduct children and teachers, butcher pregnant women, sack entire communities, and disappear without consequence, it is because the authority of the state has collapsed,” he added.
He also raised concerns over alleged attempts to suppress images and reports of the killings from reaching the public, warning that any effort to prioritise political image over human lives would amount to cruelty.
“If this government is indeed more interested in censoring evidence of mass killings than in preventing the killings themselves, then that is not merely incompetence — it is cruelty of the highest order,” Atiku said.
“No serious government hides the blood of its citizens to protect political optics.”
The former vice president described the worsening insecurity as not only a security breakdown but also a moral and leadership failure.
“This is no longer just a security failure. It is a moral failure. A leadership failure. A national disgrace,” he stated.
Atiku called for the immediate rescue of abducted victims in Oyo State, stronger security operations in vulnerable communities, and a complete overhaul of Nigeria’s security architecture to tackle the growing violence across the country.
