Former presidential aspirant Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim has warned that the Federal Government appears to have lost control over security in Northern Nigeria, following a surge in terrorist attacks in Kwara and Kebbi States.
In a statement on Tuesday, Hashim described the assault on a police outpost in Rogun Village, Patigi LGA, Kwara State, which left two officers dead, as evidence that insurgents now operate with impunity across the North. The attack reportedly involved a prolonged gunfight, taking place just hours after the abduction of 25 schoolgirls and the murder of a vice principal in Kebbi, alongside the killing of a senior Customs officer in Bagudo LGA.
Hashim said: “From Niger to Zamfara, Kaduna to Plateau, Bauchi to Kebbi, and now Kwara, terrorists are dictating the pace of life in too many communities. The Federal Government has effectively lost control.”
He highlighted that the Patigi attack is particularly alarming because the Middle Belt corridor has traditionally been considered stable. The incident, he noted, signals the dangerous spread of terrorist operations and exposes “a total breakdown of intelligence and policing.”
“What we are witnessing is the quiet surrender of Northern Nigeria to non-state actors,” Hashim added. “Rural communities live under siege. Schools are unsafe. Police stations have become battlegrounds. This is abandonment, not governance.”
He also pointed to reports of a serving military general ambushed after terrorists allegedly intercepted his communications, emphasizing that insurgents now possess advanced capabilities and boldness.
Hashim questioned the state’s capacity to protect citizens, asking: “If terrorists can storm a police outpost in Kwara and kill officers without consequence, what hope is left for villagers? If 25 schoolgirls can be abducted in Kebbi without immediate rescue, what is the meaning of government?”
He stressed that state authority now largely exists only in capital cities, while rural areas have effectively fallen under the control of armed groups. “Outside state capitals, sovereignty is collapsing. Villages are ruled by fear, terror, and bandits. Silence from those in power amounts to complicity,” he said, noting that some communities now pay “taxes” to terrorists.
Hashim condoled with the families affected by the recent attacks and called for an urgent, radical overhaul of Nigeria’s security framework. “Unless drastic action is taken immediately, Nigeria risks descending into a new, uncontrollable phase of disintegration,” he warned.
