A parliament in revolt as attacks surge across the Middle-Belt
By M. Kiara
(Lagos) Nigeria’s spiraling security crisis erupted into a rare political storm this week when Alhassan Ado-Doguwa, a senior figure in President Bola Tinubu’s ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and one of the most influential figures in the House of Representatives, publicly accused the government of failing to protect its citizens.
During an emergency session of Parliament convened specially to review Nigeria’s national security situation, Doguwa said Nigeria was “ravaged in fear and despair” and warned lawmakers may be forced to “shut down the government” unless security forces confront the wave of killings and mass abductions sweeping the country.
The outburst stunned observers across Nigeria as such a rebuke is almost unheard of in Nigerian politics, where ruling-party lawmakers traditionally avoid criticizing their own president.
But Doguwa’s frustration burst through after a string of fresh attacks on Christian communities, schools, and rural farming towns across northern and central Nigeria.
‘Their best is not good enough’: Revolt inside the ruling party
On the House floor, Doguwa delivered what analysts say is the strongest internal rebellion Tinubu has faced since taking office.
“With every sense of responsibility, and without fear of equivocation, their best is not good enough,” he said.
“The security situation in Nigeria today is horrific… unspeakable. We are lacking in institutional and collective responsibility as a government.”
“If the government is not prepared to do the right thing, I urge this House to stand up and pay the supreme cost, shut this House down and declare a legislative emergency until the right thing is done.”
Doguwa was not alone.
Julius Ihombvere, the APC Leader of the House cited staggering data rarely acknowledged publicly: “Nigeria now records over 24,000 violent incidents a year. Today, we face multifaceted security threats. Mortalities remain high, reaching up to 9,500 in 2024. Nigeria is ranked the sixth most impacted country by terrorism globally,” he said.
Their outrage followed a new wave of attacks that TruthNigeria has confirmed:
- Abduction of more than 300 Students from St. Mary’s Catholic School in Niger state
- New attacks on Churches and school zones across the North and Middle Belt
- Abduction and killing of a Kaduna Anglican Priest and his Wife
A senior security officer told TruthNigeria under anonymity that several attacks were coordinated by Fulani militant cells traveling along forest corridors connected to extremist networks in the Sahel.
“This is a moving pipeline,” he said. “What you are seeing is not random violence. It is a strategy.”
Christian leaders sound the alarm: ‘this is slow-burning genocide‘
Doguwa’s alarm echoed the voices of prominent Christian leaders who say the violence follows a deliberate ideological pattern.
Pastor Matthew Ashimolowo, founder of Kingsway International Christian Centre (KICC) called the killings “a slow-burning genocide,” citing years of religiously targeted massacres and forced displacement.
“We cannot say there is no genocide; Deborah Samuel [Deborah Emmanuel] was lynched; 52 lawyers showed up to defend her killers. Evangelist Eunice was murdered in Abuja while preaching at dawn. Communities in Benue, Plateau, Southern Kaduna, and Taraba are killed, chased out, and immediately replaced. Is this not a plan of genocide?”
Pastor Paul Adefarasin, founder of House on the Rock Church, declared that he doesn’t believe in negotiating with terrorists and warned that Nigeria is now a frontline in a global confrontation between extremist movements and local populations.
“I certainly hope Nigeria doesn’t go to war. I certainly hope we don’t have to. But I’m ready for it,” he said. “This is a battle to exterminate Indigenous people from their ancestral land in the Middle Belt.”
TruthNigeria has documented the same pattern for years: nighttime raids, villages emptied, and settlements quietly taken over by armed groups.
Tinubu declares a nationwide security emergency
Facing growing political revolt and nationwide outrage, President Tinubu on Wednesday declared a national security emergency and promised sweeping reforms.
The plan includes:
- Recruiting 50,000 additional police officers and withdrawing officers from VIP escorts
- Expanding the Nigerian Army’s manpower
- Deploying trained forest guards to dismantle militant camps
- Supporting states seeking to establish state police forces
- Strengthening security in churches, mosques, and school zones
- Advising against boarding schools in isolated rural areas
- Accelerating the transition from open grazing to ranching
Tinubu said Nigerians “deserve to live without fear.”
But security experts say the plan, while significant, may still be inadequate.
Experts warn: ‘This is not a manpower crisis; it’s a weapons pipeline crisis‘
Security expert Philip Esan told TruthNigeria the president’s reforms are “a necessary start but not a strategy.”
“Nigeria’s problem is not troop numbers,” he said. “It’s the weapons pipeline from the Sahel, the intelligence vacuum in rural corridors, and the extremist indoctrination happening in the forests.”
Security researcher Polycarp Enedu said state policing is inevitable for a country of 220 million people.
“There is no modern nation this large with a single centralized police force,” he said. “But decentralization must come with legal safeguards, or it will be misused.”
Communities now live in fear every night
Across Nigeria’s northern and central states, especially the Middle Belt region, residents describe a life shaped entirely by fear.
In Isapa, a farming town about 60 miles east of Ilorin (capital of Kwara State), gunmen numbering roughly 20 to 30 stormed the community on Monday at dusk, firing into homes and herding residents into the forest.
This attack occurred less than a week after 38 church members were rescued following their abduction in Eruku (Kwara) during an evening prayer service that was being live streamed.
A community leader who spoke to Journalists under anonymity revealed that ten people were abducted including a pregnant woman, two nursing mothers and several young children.
“We sleep with fear,” the community leader said. “Every night we pray they don’t come. The government keeps promising, but nothing changes.”
Nigeria at a crossroads
Doguwa’s revolt within the APC has become the clearest sign yet that Nigeria’s security breakdown has reached a political breaking point.
Analysts sayDoguwa’s sharp criticism should not be misunderstood as mere political theater.
“In the past, many powerful people assumed the terror was far away, something happening to villagers, farmers, and poor communities,” Esan said to TruthNigeria. “They are realizing that Fulani militant networks don’t recognize class or privilege. If the state keeps losing territory, even the elites and their families become targets.”
M. Kiara is a Lagos-based political analyst for TruthNigeria.
