The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has accused President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of creating the impression that some victims of insecurity matter more than others, demanding urgent updates and clear timelines for the rescue of 176 residents of Woro community in Kaiama Local Government Area of Kwara State who have remained in captivity since February 3, 2026.
In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC said the President’s public celebration of the recent rescue of abductees in Oyo State had raised legitimate questions about the fate of Nigerians still being held captive in Kaiama, Borno, Zamfara and other parts of the country.
The party also cited the recent abduction of 40 residents in Zamfara, fresh attacks in Benue and the kidnapping of the Kebbi State High Court Judge, Justice Faruku Hassan Bunza, as evidence that insecurity remains widespread despite repeated presidential assurances.
The ADC said the security crisis demanded action, not statements, describing President Tinubu as increasingly perceived as a “professional statement-maker” on security matters.
The statement reads:
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) is deeply concerned by what is becoming an unmistakable pattern in the Tinubu administration’s response to insecurity: some victims receive swift presidential attention, while others are left to languish in silence.
Every successful rescue of abducted Nigerians deserves to be celebrated. But the President must ensure that his actions do not create the impression that the value of a Nigerian life depends on where the victim comes from or whether the tragedy attracts national headlines.
Leadership demands equal compassion for every citizen. No country can build national unity on selective empathy and selective attention.
On Friday, July 24, 2026, residents of Kaiama Local Government Area in Kwara State staged a peaceful protest over the fate of 176 residents of Woro community abducted on February 3, 2026.
More than 170 days later, their families are still asking the same painful questions: Where are their loved ones? What has the government done? When should they expect them home?
Their protest was not political. It was the cry of citizens who fear that their loved ones have been forgotten.
And the tragedy is spreading.
In Zamfara State, no fewer than 40 residents of 11 communities in Mayanchi District of Maru Local Government Area were recently abducted by bandits, most of them women and children, forcing terrified families to flee their homes.
On Friday, July 24, fresh attacks again claimed lives in Benue’s Sankera axis. In the early hours of Sunday, July 26, suspected bandits abducted a Judge of the Kebbi State High Court, Justice Faruku Hassan Bunza, from his residence.
Meanwhile, communities in Borno State continue to endure insurgent attacks, killings and mass displacement.
These are not isolated incidents. They are reminders that insecurity remains a daily reality for millions of Nigerians.
Following the public celebration surrounding the rescue of abductees in Oyo State, Nigerians are entitled to ask simple but urgent questions:
What is the status of the 176 Nigerians abducted in Kaiama?
What progress has been made towards securing their release?
What is being done to rescue the women and children abducted in Zamfara?
What efforts are underway to secure the release of Justice Bunza?
What updates are available on victims in Borno and other affected communities?
The President owes Nigerians more than broad assurances. He owes them regular updates, clear timelines and evidence that no Nigerian community has been abandoned.
On Thursday, July 23, 2026, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu again assured Nigerians that insecurity in the North would soon come to an end.
We sincerely hope that promise becomes reality.
But hope cannot survive indefinitely on declarations alone. There comes a point when repeated assurances, unaccompanied by visible results, cease to reassure. They simply become another headline in a long cycle of official optimism and public disappointment.
That is why many Nigerians no longer receive presidential statements on insecurity with the confidence they once did.
The administration has become remarkably consistent in making reassuring pronouncements, but far less convincing in delivering results.
On one of the defining challenges of this government, the President is increasingly seen as a professional statement-maker, while communities continue to bury their dead, search for the missing and wait for rescues that never seem to come.
The ADC therefore calls on President Tinubu to demonstrate, through action rather than rhetoric, that every Nigerian life carries equal value.
The people abducted in Woro on February 3 matter.
The women and children abducted in Mayanchi, Zamfara, matter.
The families living under siege in Borno matter.
The victims of fresh attacks in Benue matter.
Justice Faruku Hassan Bunza matters.
They all deserve the same urgency, the same empathy and the same presidential attention that every rescued Nigerian rightly receives.
Leadership is not measured by how quickly government celebrates a rescue.
It is measured by whether no Nigerian is left behind, abandoned or forgotten.
