By Deborah Nnamdi
The 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, has expressed deep concern over what he described as an alarming escalation of insecurity and institutional decay across Nigeria in recent days.
In a post shared on his official X account on Monday, Obi said the past 10 days had been marked by “unprecedented negative news,” adding that the level of chaos in the country should trouble the conscience of every leader.
“The past 10 days in Nigeria have witnessed unprecedented negative news, a level of chaos, insecurity, and institutional decay that should trouble the conscience of all the leaders,” he wrote. “Our country is now going through troubling times, not by fate, but by our collective leadership failures that allow insecurity, lawlessness, and institutional decay to thrive.”
Obi lamented that Nigerians now wake up daily to fresh tragedies, describing the situation as evidence of a nation “drifting amid a clear absence of competent, compassionate, responsive and responsible leadership.”
He added: “We have all watched a nation blessed with people of strength and resilience drift into avoidable disorder. We should be asking ourselves: Are we cursed, or are we the curse?”
The former governor of Anambra State detailed a series of violent incidents that occurred within the last 10 days, painting a grim picture of widespread insecurity:
11 November 2025: Six senior directors of the Ministry of Defence were kidnapped along the Kogi axis.
15 November 2025: A Brigadier General was executed.
16 November 2025: Sixty-four civilians, including women and children, were abducted in Zamfara, with several lives lost.
17 November 2025: Twenty-five schoolgirls were abducted in Kebbi State, and their vice principal was killed.
18 November 2025: Worshippers were attacked in a church in Kwara State, with some killed and about 38 abducted.
18 November 2025: A crisis erupted at the PDP national headquarters in Abuja, during which certain security operatives reportedly escalated tensions.
18 November 2025: Judges at the All Nigeria Judges’ Conference were seen standing as the APC partisan song “On Your Mandate We Shall Stand” played before the President’s arrival, a development Obi said undermined public trust in the judiciary.
19 November 2025: Soldiers heading to rescue abducted schoolgirls in Kebbi were ambushed.
21 November 2025: Over 300 schoolchildren and 12 teachers were abducted from a Catholic school in Niger State.
22 November 2025: Bandits opened fire on farmers in Kaduna, killing one.
23 November 2025: Five police officers were killed and two others injured in an ambush by terrorists in Sabon Sara, Darazo LGA of Bauchi State.
Obi added that while reacting to these incidents, he also received information that 13 female farmers had been abducted in Askira-Uba, Borno State, by suspected Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorists.
The LP presidential candidate said no serious nation survives on excuses or indifference, stressing that what Nigerians were experiencing was the direct outcome of leaders who do not value human life.
He said Nigeria was “bleeding because those elected to protect the nation have chosen comfort over courage, politics over people, and power over purpose.”
Obi urged leaders to recommit themselves to their responsibilities: “We the leaders must remember that governance is not a title; it is a duty to protect every child, every community, and every citizen. We need competence, compassion, and a government that shows up when it matters the most.”
He extended sympathy to Nigerians who have been living in fear over the past days.
“To every Nigerian shaken in these past 10 days, my heart is with you. You deserve safety, you deserve peace. We deserve a government that values our lives above politics. Nigeria must rise again,” he said.
