The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Community Engagement (North-West), Abdullahi Yakassai, has stated that Nigeria’s worsening security situation is affecting President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, revealing that the president is struggling to sleep.
Yakassai made the remarks on Tuesday during an interview on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief.
He explained that while security has improved in some parts of the country, new tactics employed by criminal groups are creating fresh challenges.
“The security situation in some parts of the country has really been subdued, but there are new tactics emerging, like what we are seeing in Kwara State, which is very unfortunate,” he said.
According to him, the president has been holding regular Security Council meetings at the Presidential Villa to address the situation.
“Even the president is having sleepless nights because every week you see him holding a Security Council meeting to address this insecurity,” he stated.
His comments come amid rising cases of banditry, kidnapping, and other violent crimes, particularly in northern Nigeria.
Yakassai said tackling insecurity has become more difficult because criminal groups are now employing guerrilla-style tactics.
“It is very hard to tackle. This crisis has been ongoing for a long time, and you cannot just blame this government alone,” he said.
He also claimed that some individuals are deliberately fuelling insecurity to damage the government’s reputation.
“There is a hand behind this kind of insecurity. Some elements are against this government and are instigating these acts to give the administration a bad name,” he added.
However, he noted improvements in certain areas, including parts of the Abuja-Kaduna road and Zamfara State, while observing that criminal groups appear to be shifting their activities to locations such as Niger and Kwara states.
Yakassai expressed hope that ongoing efforts by security agencies will eventually bring the situation under control.
“We know a lot still needs to be done, but with time and collective effort, insecurity will continue to decline until it is eliminated,” he said.
