Former presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, has called on the Federal Government to immediately declare a national war on insecurity.
The former Anambra state governor described the current situation as a full-blown emergency threatening Nigeria’s survival.
In a statement posted on his social media handle on Sunday, Obi lamented that over 100 people were killed across Borno, Sokoto, Katsina, and Edo States during the past weekend alone. He cited the killing of eight officers of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), the abduction of a Chinese national in Edo, the kidnapping of passengers along the Benin–Iyere–Oluku road, as well as the murder of five soldiers and 58 civilians in Borno.
“These are not isolated tragedies but evidence that Nigeria is in the grip of a security crisis,” Obi said. He stressed that the fallen security operatives must be honoured with justice and their sacrifices never forgotten.
The former governor insisted that Nigeria’s casualty figures now rival those of countries officially at war, warning that the nation risks collapse if urgent steps are not taken. He urged the government to mobilise all resources, suspend distractions, and make insecurity the sole priority until the situation is brought under control.
Obi further advised government officials to suspend foreign trips, arguing that true leadership requires being physically present to coordinate the fight against insecurity.
“Investors will not come into a war zone,” he noted, adding that no nation can prosper while its citizens live under siege.
Citing Somalia and Libya as cautionary examples of national collapse due to unchecked insecurity, Obi emphasised the need for urgent and courageous action to prevent Nigeria from descending into anarchy.
It should be recalled that President Bola Tinubu on Thursday departed Abuja for Europe on a 10-working-day leave.