Rather than dwell on ex­ternal influences, the ADC insisted that the focus should remain on the rising wave of violent assaults across the country and the urgent need for leadership clarity and concrete response.

The party expressed shock that a distant social media remark was being framed as the spark behind tragedies that Nigerians have battled for years.

ADC, in a statement on Thursday in Abuja by its Na­tional Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, noted that it was unsettled by the position attributed to the SGF.

According to the ADC, “It is surprised by the comments attributed to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, in which he bizarre­ly blames recent terrorist attacks in Kebbi and Kwara states on remarks made by U.S. President, Donald Trump.”

The ADC argued that the pattern of violence predates any foreign commentary and has long become a painful feature of daily life for many communities.

It stressed that relying on an overseas statement to ex­plain the escalating situation offers no comfort to citizens who are demanding action, not theories.

The party described the de­velopment as an unfortunate shift of attention.

“We find it quite appall­ing that the APC-led Federal Government now claims its security failures are caused by a tweet by the president of another country. This is a shameful abdication of re­sponsibility, a confirmation that the Tinubu government is overwhelmed by the secu­rity situation in the country and is clueless how to go about solving it,” the state­ment added.

Highlighting the years of kidnappings, school in­vasions, attacks on worship centres and rural communi­ties, the ADC said the rate and boldness of these crimes have grown because the per­petrators encounter little de­terrence.

“For years under the APC administration, Nigerians have suffered horrific mas­sacres, mass abductions and assaults on schools and wor­ship centres. This situation has worsened with each pass­ing year, particularly under the current administration as the bandits and terrorists get more emboldened by gov­ernment’s failure to respond appropriately,” the party said.

The party rejected at­tempts to tie the situation to a foreign politician’s online comment, insisting that the roots of the crisis lie within Nigeria.

“It is therefore disingenu­ous to blame one tweet for the state of insecurity in Nigeria. Those killing Nigerians did not need to be instigated by Trump, they were already actively encouraged by a government that consistently fails to act decisively to stop the carnage, a government that is, even after nearly three years in office, still celebrat­ing its electoral victory while the country is turned to a kill­ing field.”

It questioned how a nation that regularly asserts its inde­pendence could attribute its internal difficulties to outside commentary.

“How can a government that takes pride in its sover­eignty and has no any modi­cum of self respect blame one statement by a foreign leader for the collapse of its security system? Are we so vulnerable that a social media post from Washington can that easi­ly turn our country upside down?” ADC asked.

The statement further queried what concrete assess­ments or steps were taken if the government truly viewed Trump’s words as a threat.

“If indeed Mr. Trump’s statement constitutes such a security threat, what has been the government’s evalu­ation of that threat and what measures have the govern­ment put in place to mitigate the potential threat that could emanate from it? This is what any serious government would do. It would not just wait for these opportunistic attacks to start shopping for who to blame for its incom­petence.”

The party maintained that the public is weary of expla­nations that shift focus away from solutions.

“Nigerians are tired of this government’s mentality and approach to tackling this problem of insecurity. But how can a government that is incapable of accepting re­sponsibility be trusted to find a solution?”

The ADC concluded that the origins of the crisis re­main homegrown. “There is no doubt about this: Nigeria is under siege because of the Tinubu-led APC govern­ment’s domestic negligence and incompetence rather than President Trump’s so­cial media post.

“Serving military officers should be made to concen­trate more on military du­ties. Veterans on retirement should be engaged to sup­plement the serving officers. Community leaders should be integrated into the securi­ty apparatus of their respec­tive places and be warned that they would face the music where and when com­plicity or sabotage is proven against any of them. State police should be set up imme­diately while machinery for the necessary constitutional framework is set in motion. Genuine capacity-building should be done regularly for officers. Anti-graft agencies can beam searchlights on de­fence spending.

“As is known, politicians, the world over, often vilify their opponents. Nigeria pol­iticians are no exceptions. Those who are overtly or co­vertly encouraging banditry for (present or expected) polit­ical gains should remember that they can successfully operate as politicians only in a safe environment.

“Governments should be more forthcoming on enhanc­ing the socio-economic condi­tion of the people. This can be done through short-term, mid-term and long-term mea­sures.

“Peace building efforts involving meetings of stake­holders in various communi­ties with a view to reminding them that banditry has no in­trinsic benefits whatsoever be instituted. Perceived collabo­rators should be reined-in with both carrots and sticks.”