The ADC Governorship Candidate in Sokoto State, Hon. Manir Muhammad Dan’iya, has condemned in the strongest terms the latest wave of killings and mass abductions in Rabah Local Government Area.
He described the situation as a grave failure of APC-led governments at both the state and federal levels to protect the lives and property of citizens.
Dan’iya said reports indicate that a mother and her son were slaughtered, 10 people were killed and about 40 others abducted in Rabah on Sunday.
He added that another attack occurred in Tofa village in the same LGA on Monday, where seven people were reportedly killed and 12 abducted.
He said the incidents represent an unacceptable escalation of the security crisis facing Sokoto.
In a statement signed by his Media Aide, Aminu Abdullahi, Dan’iya said the latest bloodshed has again exposed the gap between government assurances and the reality being experienced by ordinary citizens in rural Sokoto.
He recalled that Rabah has suffered repeated attacks. In March, police confirmed that one person was killed and five others abducted in Mallamawar Yari village. In June, another attack reportedly left four farmers dead and 12 abducted.
“How many more people must be killed or abducted before the APC governments admit that Sokoto has a serious security emergency?
How many more mothers must bury their children before security becomes an urgent priority rather than a subject of political statements?” Dan’iya asked.
He said it is particularly disturbing that the state government continues to say little about security interventions while communities in Rabah remain vulnerable to repeated attacks.
Dan’iya also said the government’s recent announcement of ₦1.75 billion for 1,000 motorcycles to fight banditry must translate into measurable protection for communities, rather than remain another announcement that residents cannot see reflected in their daily lives.
“The people of Rabah do not need another press statement. They need security personnel, intelligence, rapid response, and the confidence to sleep in their homes without fearing that armed men will arrive in the night,” he said.
The ADC candidate criticised what he described as the APC administration’s inadequate political attention to the security portfolio in Sokoto.
He said while security is arguably the most pressing challenge confronting the state, the government continues to place responsibility under the office of a Special Adviser on Security Matters.
He argued that security should be treated as an emergency of the highest order.
He said the scale of the crisis requires stronger institutional coordination, direct political accountability, and a security architecture capable of responding rapidly to attacks across the state.
Dan’iya further called on the APC-led Federal Government to accept its constitutional responsibility and stop treating the worsening insecurity in the North-West as a problem that can be managed through occasional operations and official assurances.
He said Sokoto cannot be allowed to become a permanent theatre of killings, kidnapping, displacement and fear while governments trade accusations or ask politicians not to “politicise” insecurity.
“When citizens are being killed and abducted, demanding accountability is not politicising insecurity. When communities are attacked repeatedly, asking government to protect them is not politics. The politics ends where the life of an innocent citizen begins,” he said.
He urged the Federal Government, the Sokoto State Government and all security agencies to immediately intensify intelligence-led operations, rescue abducted citizens, pursue the perpetrators, and establish a sustained security presence in vulnerable communities.
Dan’iya extended his heartfelt condolences to the families of those killed in the Rabah attacks, particularly the family of the mother and her son whose lives were brutally taken. He prayed for the safe return of those abducted.
He also commended the courage and sacrifices of security personnel confronting banditry across the state, and urged them to do everything within their capacity to protect vulnerable communities.
He reaffirmed that if elected in 2027, an ADC administration under his leadership would make the protection of lives and property its foremost responsibility.
This, he said, would include direct engagement with affected communities, stronger intelligence gathering, improved coordination with security agencies, and sustained pressure on criminal networks.
“Sokoto must not become a place where people are killed today, mourned tomorrow and forgotten the day after. Every life lost is a failure that government must answer for.
“We will restore security, restore confidence and restore the right of every citizen to live without fear,” Dan’iya said.