ACF To Tinubu: Suspend 2027 Politics, Tackle Killings, Abductions Now

The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has advised the President Bola Tinubu-led administration to suspend political calculations ahead of the 2027 elections and confront the worsening insecurity that is threatening lives, communities and livelihoods nationwide.

In a reaction yesterday to the escalating insecurity, the forum lamented that continued attacks, killings and abductions had created an atmosphere of fear and despair in several states, accusing political office holders of paying more attention to election and re-election concerns than the security crisis.

The group’s national publicity secretary, Prof. Tukur. Muhammad-Baba, described the escalating insecurity in the country as “grave”, hinging it on “apparent inaction” of the government.

The forum asked the authorities two questions: “How much more senseless violence, abductions and bloodshed need to be experienced to elicit appropriate action” and “when will political office holders prioritise security over political election or re-election concerns?”

According to an ACF spokesman, armed non-state actors were increasingly operating with freedom while innocent citizens continued to bear the consequences through killings, abductions, displacement and disruption of economic activities.

“Particularly concerning has been the rate at which armed non-state actors are allowed free rein to daily wreak violence on citizens, disrupt livelihoods, displace populations and impose a state of anarchy, disillusionment and despair on communities,” the forum said.

The ACF expressed particular concern over what it described as the growing preoccupation of political office holders and other politically exposed stakeholders with the 2027 elections.

“Elected officials and other politically exposed stakeholders seem more concerned and obsessed with the forthcoming 2027 elections,” it said, lamenting that “delivering governance has become a far distant priority.”

The forum cited recent security incidents in Zamfara, Plateau, Taraba, Benue, Niger, Katsina, Kogi, and Kaduna states as evidence of the worsening situation.

The group said Zamfara had continued to witness repeated attacks by armed groups, with five separate incidents reportedly recorded in one day during the period under review.

“On an almost daily basis, the attacks occur at different locations in Zamfara State on a daily basis, as if the State has become a killing field,” the ACF said.

It also raised alarm over the continued captivity of children and other citizens abducted across the country, saying “scores of children remain in the hands of terrorists in Borno, Kwara and other states.”

The forum, however, noted that some children abducted in Oyo State around the same period had been rescued and reunited with their families.

It further expressed concern over reported kidnappings and ransom demands in Chikun Local Government Area and other communities in and around the Kaduna metropolis.

In Imo State, the ACF said some prospective National Youth Service Corps members travelling to report to camp were also abducted in recent times.

The forum said the incidents it highlighted represented only a fraction of the wider security challenges confronting the country.

It also criticised President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Independence Anniversary address, arguing that insecurity received insufficient attention.

“President Ahmed Bola Tinubu’s Independence Anniversary address to Nigeria, prosaically delivered, made only a single, fleeting mention of insecurity, as if just a grudging and irritating footnote,” the ACF said.

The forum, therefore, called on the Federal Government to make the protection of lives and property its immediate priority, warning that the country could not afford further deterioration of the security situation.

“Every new incident of insecurity should be one too many.

“As time is fast running out, electioneering campaigns must give way to action over insecurity,” it said.

“Without equivocation, ACF insists that now is the time to stop the politics and end the killings,” the Spokesman added.