The Presidency on Sunday tackled former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s claim that the reported 5,091 Nigerians killed in violent incidents over a three-month period was an indictment on President Bola Tinubu’s government, insisting that security agencies had in the same window killed more than 13,000 terrorists and rescued thousands more Nigerians from captivity.
It argued that Atiku deliberately ignored the successes of the Armed Forces in the war against terror in pursuit of what it described as “a politics of despair.”
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, made the rebuttal in an interview with one of our correspondents, responding to a statement issued earlier on Sunday by Atiku’s Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu.
Atiku described President Bola Tinubu’s security record as “soaked in blood” and cited the 5,091 death toll as grounds for the government’s removal.
Reacting, Ajayi said, “In the last three months, the security agencies have, according to official figures, killed between 13,000 to 20,000 terrorists. They have rescued at least 10,000 of Nigerians across the DSS, the police, the military. And this is according to official reports.
“So, every day the military, the police, the DSS are rescuing people. So, why is Atiku not commending them for that? Are those people who were rescued not important?”
He argued that Atiku’s silence on those figures was deliberate, saying, “He cannot focus on that because it doesn’t serve his politics of despair. All he wants to focus on is despondency to sell fear to Nigerians. What it serves is warped politics. It is politics without conscience.”
Ajayi cited the recent mass rescue of Nigerians abducted in the North-Central region.
“Just last week, 308 Nigerians were rescued from around Niger State, including those abducted in Kwara and part of Niger.
“Go to the official handles of the police, the DSS and the army. You will see reports of Nigerians, women, children, men, rescued from across the states, either from kidnappers, bandits, or Boko Haram. If you sum up those figures, they are more than 10,000,” he said.
He noted that the military’s operations extended beyond rescues to sustained offensive action against armed groups.
According to him, “Our armed forces are eliminating terrorists. They are arresting them in their numbers, disrupting their operations, arresting their logistic suppliers and their informants every day.”
“Why is Atiku not talking about that? It’s because he wants to continue to sow the seed of fear, the seed of despondency, the seed of hopelessness, hoping that it will help his politics.
He further questioned Atiku’s conduct as a former holder of high office, describing his continued criticism as unbecoming of a statesman.
“Of course, he’s desperate. Atiku is desperate, so he has forgotten that he’s supposed to be a statesman.
“He is somebody who has served as the Vice President of this country and should speak in a dignified manner.
“He should seek the good of the country, not sell hopelessness every day, hoping it will help him win election next year. He will not win the election. Nigerians have seen through him,” he said.
The Presidential aide projected that Tinubu will win a decisive victory in the 2027 polls.
“Nigerians have always rejected Atiku, and Nigerians will continue to reject him. And in the next election, he will be rejected largely again.
“President Tinubu will win election next year handsomely because he is winning the war against insecurity, he is winning the war on insurgency, he is stabilising the polity, and he’s going to win his election, no matter the campaign of calumny, no matter the the antics of Atiku and his cohort,” Ajayi said.
Atiku had earlier, in a statement signed on Sunday by Shaibu, described the reported killing of 5,091 Nigerians over three months as a damning indictment of the Tinubu administration, arguing that the figure reflected the government’s failure to fulfil its most fundamental constitutional responsibility, the protection of lives and property.
The figure was drawn from reporting by SBM Intelligence, a Lagos-based geopolitical research and strategic communications consultancy that has for several years tracked and published periodic data on violent deaths, kidnappings and security incidents across Nigeria.
The former Vice President said, “Behind every number is a Nigerian whose life was cut short, a family thrown into mourning, children deprived of parents and communities condemned to fear. 5,091 reported killings in just three months should trouble the conscience of any government.”
He linked the security crisis to what he described as fiscal indiscipline and poor implementation of appropriated funds, arguing that security agencies could not be expected to perform effectively without adequate resourcing.
“These figures are the human cost of every padded budget, every frivolous expenditure and every failure to fully implement funds appropriated for critical national priorities.
“You cannot run the public treasury as though it were a private purse, squander scarce resources on questionable priorities, and then expect soldiers and other security personnel on the frontlines to perform miracles,” he said.
The Wazirin Adamawa also criticised what he called a pattern of prioritising politically expedient projects over national security, arguing that this approach undermined the operational capacity of Nigeria’s Armed Forces and other security agencies.
While welcoming the recently announced pay rise for the military, Atiku argued that improved remuneration alone would not resolve the challenges confronting troops on the frontline.
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate said the reported deaths had exposed what he called the human cost of Nigeria’s worsening insecurity.
The former Vice President further linked the worsening security situation to fiscal indiscipline, wasteful expenditure and poor implementation of appropriated funds under the Tinubu administration.
According to him, the government cannot expect security personnel to effectively confront terrorism, banditry, kidnapping and other violent crimes while allegedly failing to provide adequate resources for the Armed Forces and other security agencies.
“Behind every number is a Nigerian whose life was cut short, a family thrown into mourning, children deprived of parents and communities condemned to fear.
“5,091 reported killings in just three months should trouble the conscience of any government,” he said.
“These figures are the human cost of every padded budget, every frivolous expenditure and every failure to fully implement funds appropriated for critical national priorities.
“You cannot run the public treasury as though it were a private purse, squander scarce resources on questionable priorities and then expect soldiers and other security personnel on the frontlines to perform miracles,” he argued.
He added, “Our soldiers deserve better pay, but morale is about much more than salaries.
“They require adequate equipment, operational funding, timely allowances, proper welfare for their families and the assurance that the government they defend is as committed to their mission as they are.”
He called for improved implementation of budgetary allocations for defence and national security, urging the government to reduce waste and eliminate questionable spending to free up resources for citizen protection.
“A government that cannot protect its citizens has failed the first test of governance.
“Nigerians cannot continue to pay with their lives for the failures, waste and misplaced priorities of an administration that has failed in its most basic constitutional duty,” he said.
Atiku also argued that the death toll of 5,091 was grounds for a change in leadership.
He stated, “Today, we have 5,091 reported killings in just three months, 5,091 shattered families, 5,091 indictments of this administration’s security failures, and ultimately, 5,091 reasons this government must go.”
Reacting separately, Force spokesperson Ani Iniedu disputed Atiku’s figures, saying available security data pointed in the opposite direction.
Iniedu said, “I would not want to argue with somebody of his standing. However, if you check the analytics online from several security intelligence data, you will discover that in the past six months, violent crime in Nigeria has drastically reduced. That is the global data that’s available online. That data speaks for itself.”
The Federal Government has on its part cited its security successes in recent months as evidence of improving security.
They include the rescue of the Oriire schoolchildren and teachers in Oyo State after 56 days in captivity in July, and the rescue of 308 Nigerians abducted in Kwara and Niger states in early August, following a coordinated operation by the National Counter-Terrorism Centre involving the Armed Forces, the DSS and the Nigeria Police Force.
President Tinubu, who welcomed the development, directed security agencies to strengthen early warning mechanisms and community-level intelligence gathering to prevent similar mass abductions in the future.
Atiku is contesting the presidency in 2027 on the platform of the African Democratic Congress, and has been a consistent critic of the administration’s security and economic record since losing the 2023 presidential election to Tinubu. – Punch.
