Kwara Attack Highlights Leadership Failure, Says Ladipo Johnson

A former National Publicity Secretary of the New Nigerian Peoples Party, NNPP, now a senior member of the Nigerian Democratic Congress, NDC, Ladipo Johnson, has stated that the recent assault on the Yashikira Emir’s Palace and the Yashikira Police Divisional Headquarters in Baruten Local Government Area, Kwara State, demonstrates that the current administration has lost control over the country’s security.

Speaking in a statement on Monday, Johnson described the attacks in Kwara and Oyo states as evidence of a systemic collapse in security, pointing to the abduction of more than 30 pupils in Oyo and fatal incidents in Baruten LGA.

The Lagos Central senatorial aspirant warned that insecurity is causing severe economic paralysis, with food prices at Oyingbo market in Lagos State rising about 150 percent and logistics costs increasing 30–40 percent due to supply chain disruptions.

“Early Monday morning, while citizens slept, gunmen operated with impunity, setting a royal palace ablaze and abducting ten innocent Nigerians. This comes barely 48 hours after a separate horrific attack in Ekiti Local Government Area of Kwara, where three worshippers were murdered and fifteen kidnapped during a church vigil,” he said.

“The blood of the innocent is crying out from the soil of Kwara, just as it did only last week in Oyo State when bandits once again reminded us that no one is safe.”

“This government’s ineptitude has turned the average Nigerian citizen into a pawn in a deadly game of survival. We are witnessing a systemic collapse where even police stations—the very symbols of state protection—are no longer sacrosanct,” he added.

Johnson maintained that the escalating insecurity is not merely a tactical failure but a lack of political will.

He said, “Nigeria needs leaders who have the political will and understand the machinery of defence. Peter Obi, whose record of administrative prudence and insistence on accountability is legendary, and H.E. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, who does not need a briefing on how to secure a nation; having served as the Minister of Defense under President Obasanjo, overseeing a period of decisive military stability.”

“Both gentlemen of the NDC offer the political will and experience required to bring sanity back to our streets.”