APC Elements Behind Rising Insecurity In Nigeria Since 2014, Says Olawepo-Hashim
Former presidential candidate of the People’s Trust in the 2019 election, Dr. Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim, has indicted the All Progressives Congress (APC) as being behind the rising cases of killings and terrorism in the country.
He said that since the APC was established in 2014, certain elements must have been behind the massacre being witnessed across the country.
The former spokesman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) raised the alarm in a statement on Thursday decrying Nigeria’s escalating security crisis, warning that a dangerous coalition of global terror-linked groups is actively plotting to establish a parallel state within the country.
He was reacting to the recent massacre of over 200 civilians in Yelwata, Guma Local Government Area of Benue State, which he described as further evidence of the deepening sophistication of insurgent forces in Northern Nigeria.
“The killings in Benue last weekend are a tragic reminder of the complete breakdown of security in Northern Nigeria,” he said.
“What we are witnessing is not isolated violence, but a coordinated effort by a mortal alliance of terror groups whose goal is to carve out a State within Nigeria.”
The former presidential hopeful warned that the wave of terrorism has outgrown regional confines, with its footprint expanding beyond the traditional hotspots of the Northeast.
“This wave of terror is not limited to Benue or the Northeast but has progressively engulfed large parts of the Northwest, including Zamfara, Kebbi, Kaduna and sections of Katsina States, where communities continue to suffer loss of life, livelihoods, and dignity,” he said.
Olawepo-Hashim expressed grave concern that the insurgency was making dangerous inroads into the North Central and even Southern states, citing recent terror-related incidents in Kwara, Ekiti, Ondo, and Kogi States.
He condemned the Federal Government’s continued delay in adopting crucial security reforms, including the long-recommended decentralisation of policing, which he argued would strengthen grassroots defense and community resilience.
“The persistent refusal to implement state and local policing suggests either gross negligence or willful complicity,” he asserted. “We cannot continue pretending that Abuja alone can secure a nation as large and complex as Nigeria.”
Olawepo-Hashim questioned the ruling APC’s sincerity in addressing national security, contrasting its political successes with its failure to safeguard citizens.
“Since 2014, the APC has found the strategy to win elections, but they have not found, or pretend not to find, the strategy to end insecurity and poverty,” he said pointedly.
“One begins to wonder: Are there elements within the ruling party that are covertly aligned with these forces of terror?”
Lamenting Nigeria’s diminished regional stature, Olawepo-Hashim reminded the nation of its once-proud legacy as a continental stabiliser and military force.
“Nigeria is not such a weak State as her current rulers are making it look,” he said.
“We were once the pride of Africa’s military diplomacy—stopping civil wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone, contributing to peace in Congo and Sudan. Today, we appear helpless within our own borders.”
Appealing to Nigerians across ethnic, religious, and political divides, Olawepo-Hashim called for urgent national unity to confront the existential threat posed by violent extremism.
“This is a defining moment for our country. We must act now or risk losing the republic to a violent, extremist alternative,” he warned.
APC Elements Behind Rising Insecurity In Nigeria Since 2014, Says Olawepo-Hashim is first published on The Whistler Newspaper
