• Ex–presidential candidate condoles with Kebbi, Kwara victims • Says terrorists now dictate life across northern states

Chuks Okocha in Abuja

Former presidential candidate, Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim, has raised fresh alarm over what he described as the Federal Government’s “loss of operational control” of security in Northern Nigeria, following renewed terrorist attacks in Kwara and Kebbi States.

Olawepo-Hashim, in a strongly worded statement on Tuesday, said the latest assaults — including the killing of two security operatives in Rogun Village, Kpada District of Patigi LGA, Kwara State — show that terrorists now operate across the North “without fear of the state.”

Terrorists reportedly stormed a police outpost in Rogun on Sunday night, engaging officers in a prolonged gunfight before overwhelming the facility. The attack occurred just days after 25 schoolgirls were abducted and a vice principal murdered in Kebbi State, in addition to the killing of a senior Customs officer in Bagudo LGA.

“These coordinated attacks are evidence of a nation sliding toward total collapse,” Hashim declared. “From Niger to Zamfara, Kaduna to Plateau, Bauchi to Kebbi, and now Kwara, terrorists determine the rhythm of life in too many communities. The Federal Government has lost control.”

He described the Patigi attack as particularly disturbing, noting that the Middle Belt corridor has historically been considered relatively stable. The incident, he warned, marks a dangerous expansion of terrorist activity and underscores “a total failure of intelligence and policing.”

“What we are witnessing is a quiet surrender of northern Nigeria to non-state actors. Rural communities are under siege. Schools are unsafe. Police posts are now battlefields. This is not governance; this is abandonment,” he said.

Hashim also referenced recent reports of a serving military general ambushed after terrorists allegedly intercepted his communication, insisting the development proves insurgents now possess “advanced capability and extraordinary daring.”

“If terrorists can attack a police outpost in Kwara and kill officers without consequences, what hope is left for villagers? If 25 girls can be taken in Kebbi without immediate rescue, what remains of the meaning of government?” he asked.

He stressed that effective state authority is now limited mostly to state capitals, while “vast rural territories have fallen under the shadow of armed groups.”

“Outside the state capitals, sovereignty is collapsing. Villages are governed by fear, by bandits, by terrorists. The silence from those in power is complicity. Many villagers now pay taxes to terrorists,” he lamented.

He condoled with families affected by the Kwara and Kebbi attacks and demanded an urgent national response, including a radical overhaul of Nigeria’s security architecture.

“Unless drastic steps are taken now, Nigeria risks tumbling into a new and uncontrollable phase of disintegration,” he warned.

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