News Analysis – By Abdul Lauya
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on Sunday, issued a stern condemnation of the recent gruesome killings across Plateau, Benue, Borno, and Kano States. But for many Nigerians, his latest statement, though emotionally charged, feels like yet another entry in the country’s growing archive of reactive words unbacked by decisive leadership.
The president denounced what he called “cowardly and brutal attacks” that left dozens dead, including 12 wedding guests lynched in Plateau, over 150 civilians massacred in Yelewata, Benue State, and at least five lives lost to an explosion in Kano. He directed the police and other security agencies to bring perpetrators to justice and reaffirmed citizens’ right to free movement. Yet the public outcry is growing, not against his words, but the absence of immediate and meaningful action.
The killings in Plateau were particularly horrifying: wedding guests returning from Zaria to Jos were ambushed and lynched. Among the dead were the father and brother of the groom. The act was described by Tinubu as “barbaric,” and he urged collaboration between the Nigerian Police Force and intelligence agencies to arrest the culprits. But his call is strikingly similar to previous responses to other tragedies, including the mass slaughter in Benue just days before.
In Yelewata, Guma LGA, Benue State, survivors say gunmen stormed communities in coordinated attacks, killing more than 150 people, razing homes, and displacing entire villages. Yet no significant federal intervention was seen on the ground even days after the bloodbath. Instead, Nigerians were met with another promise of a “crackdown,” while perpetrators continue to act with alarming impunity.
This cycle, mass killings, public grief, presidential condemnation, and delayed or absent justice, has come to define the national experience of insecurity. It raises a critical question: How many more lives must be lost before presidential rhetoric translates into tangible security reform and forceful state action?
The president, as Commander-in-Chief, commands the Armed Forces, directs the police, and oversees national intelligence. These powers are not ceremonial. Nigerians are not only mourning, they are asking why full-scale operations have not been mobilised, why no high-profile arrests have followed, and why entire communities are left to fend for themselves.
While the president urges calm and promises that the “dastardly act will not go unpunished,” there is growing fatigue among citizens. They have heard similar vows after Agatu, after Zamfara, after Southern Kaduna, and now, again, after Benue and Plateau.
The expectation from the highest office is no longer just empathy, but enforcement. Nigerians want more than flags at half-mast and press releases. They want visible presence, rapid justice, and preventive security strategies, not presidential condolences issued from afar.
Your Excellency, the time has passed for speeches. What this nation demands, what it deserves, is action that ends the bloodshed and restores the sanctity of life. Until then, presidential rhetoric, however well-intentioned, will not stop the carnage.
