The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria has accused President Bola Tinubu’s administration of being detached from the scale of the security crisis consuming ordinary Nigerians, saying the presidency appeared increasingly focused on political survival and early reelection preparations while communities across multiple states were being terrorised, abducted, and displaced.

The organization’s national coordinator issued the statement following the attack on the Yashikira community in Baruten Local Government Area of Kwara State, where armed bandits reportedly set the emir’s palace on fire and abducted the emir’s wives, children, and residents. The community was held under attack for hours without effective security response. The attack came within 24 hours of a separate assault on a prayer ground in the same state that killed worshippers and resulted in abductions.

HURIWA said the pattern of attacks demonstrated that terrorist and bandit networks were becoming more emboldened and sophisticated, operating with increasing boldness that reflected their assessment of the government’s inconsistency. The group listed coordinated attacks on churches, schools, farming communities, and travellers in Kaduna, Kwara, Niger, and Benue states as evidence of a deteriorating security environment that official reassurances were failing to address.

The organization demanded the immediate declaration of a national security emergency in terror-ravaged communities and a comprehensive overhaul of the country’s security architecture and intelligence coordination. It said the continued kidnapping of schoolchildren, targeting of rural churches, and overrunning of farming communities by armed criminal gangs demanded more than the routine condolences and assurances that government officials continued to offer.