Niger State’s Social Democratic Party has accused Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago of putting his 2027 re-election plans ahead of public security as attacks, abductions and killings intensify across the state.
The SDP alleged that armoured personnel carriers acquired by the state government to address insecurity have been left at Government House for more than two years rather than handed over to security agencies for operational use.
The claims came after gunmen believed to be bandits allegedly seized 50 students from an Islamic school in Maikujeri, in Rafi Local Government Area, on Saturday.
The children were said to have been working on a farm owned by one of their teachers when they were taken. The teacher was also reportedly abducted.
In a statement released in Minna on Monday, Johnathan Vatsa, spokesman for SDP governorship candidate Mohammed Ndarani Mohammed, held the governor responsible for what he called the administration’s failure to provide adequate resources to security forces.
Vatsa said the agencies did not have enough operational vehicles or other critical tools to tackle armed groups, while official reactions to assaults had mostly consisted of public condemnations and condolence statements.
“The current situation has overwhelmed the security agencies because this government has failed to properly equip them. The security agencies in the state lack operational vehicles and other necessary equipment to confront the situation,” he said.
The SDP representative specifically asked why the APCs, said to have been bought early in the Bago administration, had not been made available to the security services.
He said the vehicles had allegedly remained idle at Government House for over two years even as communities continued to suffer repeated assaults.
“Who is he going to campaign to when the people are being killed or kidnapped and many rendered homeless? What are armoured vehicles meant for? Are they meant to protect the governor during campaigns? These important vehicles are bought with taxpayers’ money because of the security challenges in the state.
“The governor should release them to the security agencies to enable them to protect innocent villagers. Enough of this killing and kidnapping in the state,” Vatsa said.
Vatsa also rejected the reported government argument that the vehicles had not been transferred because security agencies lacked the ability to service and maintain them.
“If the government knows that the security agencies cannot maintain these vehicles, then why did you buy them? This excuse amounts to calling a dog a bad name in order to hang it. The governor is prioritising his personal safety over that of the larger population,” he added.
The SDP spokesman argued that the schoolchildren’s abduction and the continuing violence in Niger State could have been avoided if security agencies had been properly equipped.
He called on the governor to release the armoured vehicles and implement practical security measures for residents instead of concentrating on political preparations for the 2027 election.
Responding to the accusations, the Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Hon. Obed Nuhu Nana, rejected the assertion that the state government was holding back the vehicles or keeping them for the 2027 campaign period.
Nana described the claims as speculative and said the military already possessed the vehicles and controlled how and where they were deployed.
“The vehicles are already with the military, and they are the ones in control of their deployment and usage. Those alleging that the vehicles are being kept at Government House should provide evidence. They are not at Government House.
“Journalists can also verify this from the Commanding Officer of the Training and Doctrine Command, TRADOC,” he said.
The commissioner said Governor Bago had purchased the vehicles well before the current political cycle, challenging suggestions that their procurement was linked to electoral plans.
