Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the African Democratic Congress’ presidential candidate for the 2027 election, criticized the President Bola Tinubu administration’s handling of insecurity, claiming that while terrorists and bandits constantly adapt their tactics, the Nigerian government has failed to learn from previous attacks and reform its counterterrorism strategy.
Atiku stated that the continued migration of terrorism, banditry, and abduction from their traditional strongholds in northern Nigeria to other parts of the country demonstrated that the government’s security structure was failing to keep up with emerging threats.
“The terrorists are learning from every attack. They study their successes and failures. They refine their tactics. They identify vulnerabilities. They adapt and strike again,” Atiku said in a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Mr. Phrank Shaibu.
According to him, “The question Nigerians must ask is simple: Why isn’t the government doing the same?”
The ADC chieftain cautioned that Nigeria could no longer afford to take a “business-as-usual” approach to terrorism, arguing that the country’s security architecture must be urgently restructured to confront more sophisticated and geographically distributed security threats.
According to him, a recurring pattern has evolved throughout the country in which attacks are followed by popular outrage, official promises, and investigating committees, only for more attacks to occur with no substantial lessons learned.
“From Chibok to Oyo, from countless villages in the North-West to communities across the Middle Belt and beyond, the pattern has become tragically familiar. An attack occurs. The nation mourns. Promises are made. Committees are announced. Then another attack follows.
“A nation that refuses to learn from its tragedies is condemned to relive them,” he added.
Atiku stated that successive governments have relied primarily on centrally designed and frequently foreign-inspired counterterrorism approaches, while failing to adequately address the perspectives of people directly affected by insurgency and violent extremism.
He encouraged the federal government to conduct an immediate comprehensive review of Nigeria’s National Counterterrorism Policy, stating that future security measures must be grounded in lessons learned from local experiences.
Atiku stated that successive governments have relied primarily on centrally designed and frequently foreign-inspired counterterrorism approaches while failing to adequately address the perspectives of people directly affected by insurgency and violent extremism.
He encouraged the federal government to conduct an immediate comprehensive review of Nigeria’s National Counterterrorism Policy, stating that future security measures must be grounded in lessons learned from local experiences.
“We went through the harrowing tragedy of the Chibok schoolgirls’ abduction. The pain of that national trauma remains etched permanently in our collective memory. Yet years later, schoolchildren and teachers are still being abducted in different parts of the country.
“We ought to have drawn critical lessons and early warning indicators from Chibok and other similar incidents to ensure that what recently happened in Oyo State and elsewhere never happened again,” he added.
Atiku proposed establishing a Terrorism Violence Peer Review Mechanism to document lessons from previous attacks and integrate them into national security planning.
This framework would strengthen grassroots intelligence gathering, improve early warning systems, and enhance community collaboration.
The former vice president also advocated for the establishment of specialized Counterterrorism Fusion Centers in the country’s six geopolitical zones to enable real-time intelligence sharing among the military, police, Department of State Services, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, immigration authorities, customs officials, and local vigilante groups.
Beyond military actions, Atiku emphasized the importance of intelligence-led counterterrorism initiatives, stronger border security, and aggressive disruption of terrorist financial networks.
“The battle against terrorism cannot be won solely through military deployments,” he said.
“Every successful counterterrorism campaign around the world has relied heavily on intelligence superiority.”
He also argued that insecurity cannot be separated from governance challenges, noting that poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, and state neglect create fertile ground for recruitment by extremist groups.
“We must recognize that terrorism is not merely a security challenge; it is also a governance challenge,” the statement added.
Atiku also proposed a National Victims and Survivors Help Framework, which would give emotional help, educational assistance, and economic rehabilitation programs to communities devastated by terrorist acts.
He questioned the effectiveness of government security spending, expressing worry that, despite trillions of naira committed to defense over the years, Nigerians continue to endure deteriorating security.
“What is particularly troubling is that despite trillions of naira budgeted for defense and security over the years, Nigerians are less secure today than they were a decade ago.
“This is not merely a failure of resources; it is a failure of strategy, coordination, accountability, and leadership,” he noted.
Atiku’s words come as there are mounting concerns about ongoing attacks by rebels, bandits, and kidnappers across the country.
While the federal government has repeatedly stated that security agencies have achieved significant success against criminal groups, recent incidents of abductions, attacks on rural communities, and the spread of violent crime into new areas have reignited public debate about Nigeria’s security strategy.
The Wazirin Adamawa encouraged President Bola Tinubu’s administration to go beyond rhetoric and immediately adopt measures that might restore public trust in the country’s ability to protect lives and property.
“Nigerians deserve nothing less than a counterterrorism framework that is proactive, evidence-based, transparent, and firmly rooted in our domestic realities,” he said.
