Terror Attacks Politically Motivated, Aimed At Tinubu – Akpabio

The President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, on Tuesday alleged that the rising wave of terrorist attacks across Nigeria is a coordinated attempt to distract President Bola Tinubu from implementing his reforms.

Akpabio made the claim during his goodwill message at the commissioning of the Nigeria Revenue Service headquarters in Abuja.

Speaking at the event, the Senate President suggested that the violence is politically driven and could subside after the next election cycle.

“Believe me, Mr President, two weeks after you win the elections, the bomb blasts will stop. People are sponsoring it to distract you from your work.

“You’re doing so well despite the gang up on your administration,” he said.

Akpabio’s comments came barely 24 hours after President Tinubu held a closed-door meeting with the Chief of Defence Staff, General Olufemi Oluyede, and a visiting French general at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Sources familiar with the meeting said it formed part of intensified collaboration to address Nigeria’s worsening security challenges.

The engagement, which started around 2:00 pm on Monday, marked the President’s first official assignment after returning from Bayelsa State on Friday.

The meeting also followed Tinubu’s earlier announcement that France had agreed to provide military equipment and training to Nigerian forces engaged in counter-insurgency operations in the North-East.

The partnership is expected to bolster ongoing efforts to combat terrorism in the region.

Akpabio’s remarks come amid deteriorating security conditions nationwide, with a string of violent incidents recorded in recent days.

Among them was a controversial airstrike on Saturday by the Nigerian Air Force targeting suspected Boko Haram insurgents at Jilli market in Yobe State, near the Borno border.

The strike reportedly killed over 40 civilians, including children, according to Amnesty International, which cited survivors and hospital sources. Local reports, however, put the death toll as high as 200.

While the military defended the operation as a precision strike on a terrorist logistics hub, Amnesty International condemned it as a “reckless use of deadly force” and called for an independent investigation.

The Presidency also justified the operation, insisting that the location had been taken over by insurgents.

“The market was a legitimate military target because it has been turned into a logistics and trading hub by Boko Haram and ISWAP terrorists,” the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, said in an interview with Bloomberg.

Civilian casualties raise concerns

Reports indicate that military air operations have led to significant civilian casualties in recent years, with at least 500 deaths recorded since 2017.

Analysts have attributed such incidents to lapses in intelligence gathering and coordination between ground forces and air operations.

The worsening security situation has also drawn international attention.

On April 8, the United States Department of State authorised the voluntary departure of non-essential staff and their families from its embassy in Abuja, citing security concerns.

The advisory also elevated 23 Nigerian states to a “Level 4: Do Not Travel” category, the highest risk classification, including Plateau, Jigawa, Kwara, Niger, and Taraba states.

The US cited threats from insurgents in the North-East, banditry in the North-West and North-Central, and violence in parts of the South and South-East.

Visa services in Abuja have since been suspended, although the Lagos consulate continues to offer routine and emergency services.

Reacting, the Federal Government said the advisory was based on internal US protocols and did not reflect the overall security reality in Nigeria.

“While we acknowledge isolated security challenges in some areas, there is no general breakdown of law and order, and the vast majority of the country remains stable,” the Minister of Information, Mohammed Idris, said.