WHEN A GOVERNMENT IS TIRED BUT UNWILLING TO LEAVE
-The NYSC Abduction, Administrative incompetence, Institutional Failure, Security Negligence, Dereliction of responsibility, and the 2027 Verdict Nigerians Must Deliver
E-ISSN: 2354-4481
By John Mbonu Uchenwoke-Ekperechi
Nigeria celebrated its 66th Independence Anniversary on October 1, 2026. But while government officials spoke of progress, hope and renewal, armed men were turning a major highway in Imo State into a theatre of terror.
Two buses conveying prospective National Youth Service Corps members and other passengers were attacked around Umunoha on the Owerri–Onitsha Road. Ten victims were rescued, while about 20 others were reportedly taken into captivity.
These were young Nigerians travelling to fulfil a national obligation. They were graduates going to serve their country. Their reward was to be intercepted on a major highway and dragged into the forest.
This is not merely another kidnapping story.
It is an indictment of the Nigerian state.
The government may not be responsible for the existence of every criminal, but it is responsible for the security architecture designed to prevent criminals from operating with such impunity.
That is where political accountability begins.
The Tinubu administration cannot continue to govern through promises, security briefings and expressions of concern while Nigerians increasingly wonder whether they will reach their destinations alive.
And the Imo abduction did not occur in a vacuum.
Since Independence Day, Nigeria has continued to witness disturbing reports of attacks, killings, abductions and armed operations in parts of the country. In Borno, suspected Boko Haram insurgents reportedly attacked farmers, leaving several people dead and others missing. In Sokoto, security forces reported repelling an armed attack and recovering dangerous weapons.
These incidents may differ in location and circumstance, but they expose the same national problem: too many Nigerians remain vulnerable to criminals who appear increasingly capable of striking with devastating confidence.
Nigeria has seen this movie too many times.
Chibok. Dapchi. Kankara. Kagara. Jangebe. Kaduna. Abuja–Kaduna.
Students abducted. Travellers kidnapped. Farmers murdered. Communities terrorised.
And every administration eventually gives Nigerians the same assurances:
“Security agencies are on top of the situation.”
“Rescue operations are ongoing.”
“The perpetrators will be brought to justice.”
Nigerians have heard these words so frequently that they have become part of the national soundtrack of insecurity.
But leadership is not measured by press statements after attacks.
Leadership is measured by prevention, rapid response, successful rescue and whether citizens are safer tomorrow than they were yesterday.
This is why the 2027 elections must not become another festival of ethnic mobilisation, political propaganda, money politics and empty promises.
They must become a referendum on performance.
Nigerians must interrogate every candidate seeking the presidency, governorship, Senate, House of Representatives and State House of Assembly.
Who has a credible security plan?
Who understands intelligence-led policing?
Who can strengthen institutions rather than merely issue commands?
Who can protect highways, schools, farms, markets and communities?
Who has demonstrated competence instead of merely mastering political rhetoric?
And most importantly: who deserves another mandate?
This is not a call for unconstitutional change or violence. It is a call for democratic accountability.
The ballot remains the most powerful peaceful weapon available to the Nigerian people.
Come 2027, Nigerians must stop electing leaders simply because they are wealthy, powerful, connected or politically fashionable.
We must elect leaders because they are competent, accountable, courageous and capable of governing.
A country where graduates are abducted while travelling to national service cannot convincingly claim to have secured its future.
A nation whose citizens fear travelling between states cannot pretend that insecurity is under control.
A government that cannot adequately protect its citizens must answer difficult questions at the ballot box.
The approximately 20 prospective NYSC members still in captivity are not animals.
They are someone's children.
They are someone's brothers and sisters.
They are someone's future.
They must be rescued alive.
And when Nigerians vote in 2027, they must remember October 1, 2026.
Because elections are not merely about choosing who occupies government offices.
They are about deciding what kind of country we are prepared to live in.
Nigeria deserves leadership that protects before it apologises, prevents before it reacts and delivers before it campaigns.
The 2027 verdict must belong to the Nigerian people.
The NYSC Abduction is a frontal Administrative incompetence, Institutional Failure, Security Negligence, Dereliction of responsibility, and the 2027 Verdict Nigerians Must Deliver. This should prick everyone's hearts.
John Mbonu Uchenwoke-Ekperechi is the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief, Inside Agwa News; a Public Affairs Analyst and Convener, Renaissance Oguta Constituency (ROC). He writes from Owerri, Imo State.
Email:[email protected]@gmail.com
