Ex-Presidential Candidate Says FG Losing Control Of Security As Attacks Spread Across North

Former presidential candidate and chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, Gbenga Hashim, has accused the Federal Government of losing “operational control” on security across Northern Nigeria, following renewed terrorist attacks in Kwara and Kebbi States.

Hashim said the widening scale of attacks, including Sunday night’s invasion of a police outpost in Rogun village, Kpada District of Patigi Local Government Area of Kwara State, reflects a disturbing collapse of state authority in many northern communities.

THE WHISTLER online reports that gunmen were said to have stormed the police post in Rogun and engaged officers for several hours before overpowering them, killing two personnel, and destroying parts of the facility.

The attack came days after terrorists abducted 25 schoolgirls, murdered a vice principal in Kebbi State, and killed a senior Customs officer in Bagudo LGA.

In a strongly worded statement in Kaduna on Wednesday, Hashim said the incidents were not isolated but part of a spreading pattern showing that terrorists now operate “without fear of consequences” across northern Nigeria.

“These coordinated attacks are evidence of a nation sliding toward total collapse,” Hashim declared. “From Niger to Zamfara, Kaduna to Plateau, Bauchi to Kebbi, and now Kwara, terrorists determine the rhythm of life in too many communities. The Federal Government has lost control.”

He described the Patigi attack as particularly disturbing, noting that the Middle Belt corridor had historically been considered relatively stable. The incident, he warned, marks a dangerous expansion of terrorist activity and underscores “a total failure of intelligence and policing.”

“What we are witnessing is a quiet surrender of northern Nigeria to non-state actors. Rural communities are under siege. Schools are unsafe. Police posts are now battlefields. This is not governance; this is abandonment,” he said.

Hashim also referenced recent reports of a serving military general ambushed after terrorists allegedly intercepted his communication, insisting the development proves insurgents now possess “advanced capability and extraordinary daring.”

“If terrorists can attack a police outpost in Kwara and kill officers without consequences, what hope is left for villagers? If 25 girls can be taken in Kebbi without immediate rescue, what remains of the meaning of government?” he asked.

He stressed that effective state authority is now limited mostly to state capitals, while “vast rural territories have fallen under the shadow of armed groups.”

“Outside the state capitals, sovereignty is collapsing. Villages are governed by fear, by bandits, by terrorists. The silence from those in power is complicity. Many villagers now pay taxes to terrorists,” he lamented.

Hashim condoled with families affected by the Kwara and Kebbi attacks and demanded an urgent national response, including a radical overhaul of Nigeria’s security architecture.

“Unless drastic steps are taken now, Nigeria risks tumbling into a new and uncontrollable phase of disintegration,” he warned.