Timi Frank, a former deputy national publicity secretary for the All Progressives Congress (APC), has called on the US to deny visas to Nuhu Ribadu, the National Security Advisor (NSA), and AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, the governor of Kwara State.
In response to claims that the two are equipping Fulani bandits and other non-state actors in the state, he made this statement.
Frank urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to order a thorough probe into the claims in a statement released on Friday.
He cautioned that until the issue is fully investigated, the United States should exercise caution when providing intelligence with Nigeria.
According to Frank, the scandal revealed “dangerous fault lines within Nigeria’s national security architecture” and was “a chain of official contradictions, confessions, denials, and reversals.”
According to Frank, Kwara State Government officials first verified that the suspects belonged to Miyetti Allah and were functioning under a federal security arrangement overseen by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).
“The Kwara State Government itself confirmed that the arrested individuals were part of a security operation linked to the NSA’s office barely days after initial denials,” Frank said.
He continued by saying that a statement from the NSA’s office purportedly admitted that weapons had been given to vigilantes under “hybrid security operations” in accordance with the Terrorism Prevention and Prohibition Act, making the situation more serious.
According to Frank, “that admission was widely reported and not immediately disputed.”
He did, however, criticize what he called a “sudden and suspicious U-turn” by the NSA’s office, which subsequently denied arming kidnappers, militias, or socio-cultural groups, claiming instead that the people involved were only NSA-known vigilantes.
Frank claims that the contradictory reports have brought up important issues. “Who gave the order for the weapons? These armed soldiers were recruited by whom? Why did official accounts fluctuate several times in a few of days? He questioned, “Is the Kwara State Governor being honest, or is the NSA hiding something?”
Frank referred to the issue as a “national security scandal” and stated that the discrepancies could not be written off as misunderstandings by the media.
“As National Security Advisor, you cannot pretend to defend or explain the issuance of weapons and then later fully deny it. These inconsistencies point to either egregious ineptitude or a purposeful cover-up, he claimed.
Frank urged President Tinubu to order an independent investigation into the NSA’s and the Kwara State Government’s roles right away, look into the contradictory statements made by the NSA’s office, and make sure that any official found to have armed or enabled lawless non-state actors is held accountable.
