ADC Urges Tinubu to Declare State of Emergency in Katsina, Zamfara Over Worsening Insecurity

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to declare a state of emergency in Katsina and Zamfara states following a surge of violent attacks that have claimed more than 140 lives in the past two months.

In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the party expressed outrage over the killings, including the recent massacre in Malumfashi, Katsina State, where 30 worshippers were shot inside a mosque and 20 villagers burnt in their homes. The ADC also linked the incident to a wider wave of violence across the region, noting that 47 people were killed in Zamfara, 38 of them executed despite ransom payments.

The party described the attacks as evidence of a collapsed security architecture and faulted the federal government for failing to tackle the crisis. It condemned what it called the president’s preference for foreign trips while lives are being lost at home, saying Nigerians are being forced to endure “horrors under this administration.”

ADC further criticised the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) governors for holding a political gathering in Zamfara shortly after the killings, describing their actions as insensitive. The party said photographs of the governors in ceremonial attire “grinning for the camera” were inappropriate in a community still mourning mass casualties.

Beyond its call for a state of emergency, the party pressed for a total overhaul of Nigeria’s internal security framework, referencing the chief of defence staff’s recent advice for citizens to learn self-defence as proof that the system has failed.

The ADC concluded by accusing both the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the PDP of placing politics above the safety and welfare of Nigerians.