The Allied Peoples Movement (APM) has criticised the Minister of Defence, Christopher Musa, over his claim that Nigeria has defeated terrorists and that insecurity has improved under President Bola Tinubu. The party said the minister’s assertion was a distortion of the security situation in the country, arguing that Nigerians continue to face killings, abductions, displacement and other forms of violence.
Mr Musa, while speaking earlier on Channels Television’s Politics Today, said terrorist attacks were no longer as rampant or brazen as they had been in the past, adding that kidnapping had become more prevalent.
Asked whether Nigeria had defeated terrorists or merely displaced them, the minister said, “Frankly speaking, we have defeated terrorists because now, like I said, the attacks are not as rampant and it is now.” Mr Musa also described kidnapping as a “social ill,” noting that there were cases of wives kidnapping their husbands and husbands kidnapping their children.
He maintained that security had improved under Mr Tinubu and that reports of terrorist attacks were no longer as frequent as they were previously. However, in a statement on Saturday signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Abubakar Yusuf, the APM condemned the minister’s position, describing it as an attempt by the administration to downplay the country’s worsening insecurity.
The party cited the 2026 Global Terrorism Index (GTI), claiming that Nigeria had risen from sixth place in the 2025 index to fourth place among the world’s most terrorism-affected countries. The APM said it was “deeply disappointing” that a minister of the federal republic would make such claims while Nigerians continued to suffer killings, kidnappings and displacement.
The party alleged that the situation had exposed what it described as the Tinubu administration’s “insensitivity” to the plight of Nigerians facing killings, rape, abductions for ransom and captivity by armed groups.