The republic deserves answers

Thank you for the rescues • Now answer the questions

NIGERIA’s unrelenting insecurity demands a societal response. That response begins with citizens asking difficult questions. But before we do, we must express gratitude to the Nigerian military for rescuing 360 captives in Borno State, and to the Nigeria Police Force for rescuing the younger sister of former Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu, and her children in Ibadan. These operations deserve commendation, as do the security personnel and citizens who place themselves in harm’s way so that others may live. But gratitude does not abolish accountability. A republic survives not only because citizens honour those who defend it, but also because citizens retain the right to ask questions. Today, citizens have questions to ask.

Demolishing buildings or demolishing kidnapping?

Following the rescue of Adelabu’s sister and her children, the Oyo State government demolished the building reportedly used as the kidnappers’ hideout. But a building is not a kidnapping syndicate. A building is concrete. Kidnapping is a system. Who owns the demolished property? Was the owner complicit or merely an unwitting landlord? More importantly, has the criminal network been dismantled? Kidnapping survives because it is supported by a wider network of informants, financiers, facilitators, and collaborators. The deeper question before Governor Seyi Makinde’s administration is not whether a structure has been demolished, but whether the kidnapping economy itself is being dismantled. Is Borno’s Boko Haram the Same as the Terrorists in Oyo?

The Defence Headquarters has identified the Oriire abductors as members of Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad (JAS), the Boko Haram faction that originated in Borno State. If that assessment is correct, Nigerians are entitled to ask an obvious question: what lessons from Borno can accelerate the rescue of the 46 schoolchildren and teachers still held captive in Oyo State? The question is not about operational details but institutional learning.

The military demonstrated its capacity in Borno. If the terrorists operating in Borno and those holding children and teachers in Oriire belong to the same organisation, can knowledge gained in one theatre assist operations in the other? The families of the Oriire captives deserve more than assurances. They deserve the full benefit of the lessons Nigeria has learned in its long struggle against terrorism.

A prime witness: Baraje

The Nigerian Tribune editorial of June 9, 2026 indicated that there are about “30,000 Fulani terrorists troubling Nigeria”. Many residents, including Sunday Igboho, have alleged that foreign Fulani elements occupy forests across the South-West.

Security agencies owe Nigerians clarity. Who is terrorising the South-West? Are they JAS operatives, foreign Fulani Jihadists, or something else entirely? Who abducted the Oriire children and teachers? Who beheaded Mr. Michael Oyedokun? At this juncture, security agencies should invite Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje, former Chairman of the new PDP and former Secretary of the APC, to clarify his public statements.

According to published reports by Daily Independent of February 4, 2021, Baraje was quoted as linking Nigeria’s insecurity to the alleged importation of foreign Fulani elements from neighbouring countries, including Mali, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Niger, and Chad to help secure victory for the APC in the 2015 polls. “The security agencies have not been open about the nature of the problem. They have made arrests. Why haven’t they told the public who the terrorists are?” Baraje was quoted. 

However, Baraje later publicly disputed aspects of those reports and offered a different explanation. In a 2022 interview with Arise News, he stated: “What I said categorically was that in 2014/15, in preparation for 2015 elections, all efforts were made to ensure that APC came into power. And as a build-up towards that election, APC never or some people in APC never thought they were going to win the elections. So, all manners of scandals were prepared, you know, to ensure that if APC didn’t win, then Nigeria may not stay.”

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That clarification answers one question but raises several others. What were the “manners of scandals” Baraje referred to? Who were the people he said believed Nigeria “may not stay” if APC lost the election? What actions, if any, were allegedly taken in preparation for such an outcome? And what, if any, relationship exists between those events and the insecurity that continues to confront the country today? Can Baraje clarify these statements? Who were the “other like minds”? Who were “those we started APC with”? What were they warned about, and what became of those warnings?

These questions remain relevant because the attackers are variously described as bandits, kidnappers, terrorists, foreign fighters, JAS, or ISWAP. Clarifying this confusion is essential to developing a coherent societal response to Nigeria’s insecurity. The issue is not Fulani identity. Millions of Fulani across Nigeria are peaceful citizens. The issue is terrorism and armed criminality. The issue is whether the Nigerian state truly understands the nature of the threat confronting it.

Three witnesses: Tinubu, Atiku and Jonathan

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu recently declared: “The late Buhari was me. He was my partner.” If he sees continuity between both administrations, he is uniquely positioned to explain what the state knows about the evolution of insecurity during the APC era. Baraje has since stated that, in the build-up to the 2015 election, “all manners of scandals were prepared” and that some political actors believed APC might lose and that Nigeria “may not stay” if that happened. What exactly did Baraje mean? Was President Tinubu aware of the concerns Baraje later described? Has his government sought clarification from Baraje, and if so, what conclusions were reached?

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar once said he helped APC secure victory in the 2015 election before he was later sidelined. As a former APC leader and now a major opposition figure, he also owes Nigerians clarification. Did Atiku ever become aware of the concerns later raised by Baraje? What did he understand Baraje to mean? Was he aware of any of the preparations Baraje described? If he knows nothing, he should say so. If he knows something, Nigerians should know.

According to a BBC report of January 8, 2012, former President Goodluck Jonathan acknowledged that Boko Haram had infiltrated parts of the Nigerian government, stating: “Some of them are in the executive arm of government, some of them are in the parliamentary arm of government, while some are even in the judiciary.” What intelligence did the Nigerian state possess in 2014–2015 regarding infiltration, insurgency, foreign fighters, and threats to national stability? Do Boko Haram sympathisers or collaborators still operate within federal institutions, including the military, the National Assembly, and the judiciary? Jonathan’s statement raises an unanswered question: how much of what Nigeria suffers today was already known to the Nigerian state a decade ago?

Who ordered the troop withdrawal just minutes before students were abducted from Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School, Maga, Kebbi State? As Governor Nasir Idris asked, Nigerians deserve an answer.

The republic awaits answers

Nigeria is approaching another election season. Politicians are mobilising. Campaign calculations are underway. Yet teachers are being killed. Children remain in captivity. Villages are being abandoned. Fear is becoming a way of life. Nigerians therefore ask: Who owns the demolished kidnappers’ den in Ibadan? Who are the terrorists operating in Oyo State? What lessons from Borno can assist Oriire? What exactly did Baraje mean? What were the “manners of scandals” he described? Who believed Nigeria “may not stay” if APC lost? What do Tinubu, Atiku, and Jonathan know?

These questions are not accusations. They are summonses issued by citizenship. If Baraje’s account is incorrect, the nation deserves clarification. If it is correct, even partially, then Nigeria’s insecurity may be as much a story of ignored warnings as it is a story of infiltration.

The people are the jury.

The witnesses have been called.

The republic awaits answers.