By BONIFACE AKARAH

The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria has called for the immediate removal of Nigeria’s top security officials, accusing them of failing to contain worsening insecurity across the country amid reports of fresh terrorist activities and mass kidnappings spreading into the South-West.

In a statement signed by its National Coordinator, Emmanuel Nnadozie Onwubiko on May 20, 2026, the civil rights group said the country was “bleeding under failed security leadership,” insisting that the nation’s security architecture had collapsed under poor intelligence coordination, weak operational response, and lack of accountability.

HURIWA particularly faulted recent comments credited to the Defence Headquarters dismissing concerns that terrorists had established operational bases in the South-West, despite reports of attacks in parts of the region, including the abduction of pupils and teachers in Oyo State.

“The claim by the Defence Headquarters that terrorists have no dangerously deceptive,” the group stated, arguing that coordinated attacks on schools and rural communities showed evidence of growing insecurity.

The association questioned what qualified as an operational base “when schoolchildren are abducted in coordinated attacks,” warning against what it described as attempts to downplay the severity of the crisis through official statements.

HURIWA consequently demanded the immediate sack of the Chief of Defence Staff, the National Security Adviser, military intelligence chiefs, service chiefs, and the Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), saying the country could no longer afford what it described as “catastrophic and unforgivable failure of national security management.”

The rights group said communities across several regions, including the North-East, North-West, Middle Belt and parts of the South-West, had continued to suffer repeated attacks from terrorists, bandits and kidnappers while citizens increasingly lived in fear.

According to the organisation, highways had become unsafe, farming activities disrupted, and schools repeatedly targeted, yet security officials remained in office despite what it described as deteriorating outcomes.

HURIWA also criticised President Bola Ahmed Tinubu over the continued retention of some security officials, warning against what it called a dangerous perception that “ethnic loyalty and political considerations” were being prioritised over competence and accountability in national security appointments.

“A nation at war with terrorism cannot afford nepotism in national security management,” the statement added.

The association further expressed concern over remarks allegedly credited to the Chief of Defence Staff describing terrorists as “prodigal sons,” arguing that such language could project weakness at a time Nigerians expected a firmer response against terrorism.

HURIWA equally accused the DSS of increasingly targeting critics and dissenting voices instead of focusing fully on dismantling criminal and terrorist networks across the country.

The group said controversies surrounding the tenure of former Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, had further deepened public distrust in the country’s security leadership.

It urged President Tinubu to urgently overhaul the country’s security leadership and rebuild what it described as a “professional, intelligence-driven and non-partisan national security architecture rooted in competence.”

“Enough of the propaganda. Enough of the media spin. Enough of the official denials. Nigerians are dying. Nigerians are being kidnapped. Nigerians are living in terror,” the statement said.

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