The Allied Peoples Movement (APM) has accused the President Bola Tinubu administration of being in denial over the country’s security situation, rejecting claims by Defence Minister Christopher Musa (rtd) that insecurity has improved.

In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Abubakar Yusuf, the opposition party described the minister’s assertion as a “dangerous distortion of reality,” citing the Global Terrorism Index (GTI) 2026, which it said ranked Nigeria as the fourth most insecure country in the world.

APM argued that Nigeria’s position had worsened from sixth place in the 2025 index, accusing the government of downplaying the scale of killings, kidnappings, displacement and other forms of violence across the country.

“It was deeply disappointing that a minister of the Federal Republic could appear on national television to make such claims at a time when millions of innocent Nigerians are being killed, kidnapped, displaced, and terrorized in various parts of the country,” Yusuf said.

The party also accused the administration of insensitivity to victims of killings, rape, abductions for ransom and attacks by bandits, claiming that more than 600,000 Nigerians had been killed and at least 2.2 million people, including women and children, abducted during Tinubu’s presidency.

APM cited the recent abduction of about 600 people, mostly women, children and elderly persons, from Dekera, Gidan-Zana and Sabon Gida villages in Niger State as evidence of the worsening security situation.

It also referenced data from SBM Intelligence, which it said showed that more than N7.78 billion was paid in ransom between July 2025 and June 2026, describing kidnapping as a highly monetised industry under the Tinubu administration.

The party further criticised the government for allegedly treating abduction as a family matter, despite describing the act as terrorism.

“If the security situation has truly improved as the administration claims, the APM challenges the President, the Minister of Defence, and other senior officials of the Tinubu Presidency to travel by road without armed security details as other Nigerians must do,” the statement said.

APM maintained that insecurity was worsening because, in its view, the Tinubu administration lacked the capacity to develop and implement an effective strategy to contain it.

The party urged Nigerians not to lose hope, promising that its presidential candidate, Seyi Makinde, has a blueprint to tackle insecurity and other national challenges if elected in 2027.

APM said the Tinubu administration’s tenure would end on May 29, 2027.