Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, has accused sections of the Nigerian media of portraying an exaggerated picture of insecurity in the country, arguing that while security challenges remain serious, Nigeria is not under siege.
Speaking during an interview on Arise Television on Tuesday, Onanuga said media reports often create the impression that violence, terrorism and kidnapping have overwhelmed every part of the country, a narrative he described as misleading.
According to him, millions of Nigerians continue to travel daily without incident, stressing that isolated security breaches should not be interpreted as evidence that the nation has become entirely unsafe.
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“The way the media is reporting security is as if the entire country is consumed. Don’t let people threaten you that the entire country is under siege. It’s not. There are security breaches. There are major security breaches,” he said.
The presidential aide maintained that insecurity remains a challenge requiring sustained government attention but argued that public perception is often shaped by sensational reporting rather than the broader security picture.
Onanuga also linked some incidents of kidnapping and attacks to violations of longstanding security advisories against night travel.
“Any time I read about either a kidnap or an attack somewhere, sometimes I look at the time. It happened 8 p.m., 9 p.m., sometimes 1 a.m. A long time ago, the police told people to stop travelling at night,” he stated.
His remarks came during a debate over conflicting security statistics relating to terrorism, banditry and violent attacks across Nigeria.
During the programme, interviewers referenced figures reportedly compiled by Beacon Security and Intelligence Limited and the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), which suggested that terror-related fatalities linked to groups such as ISWAP, armed bandits, IPOB, ESN and armed herders increased by about 4.6 per cent between 2015 and 2025.
The figures appeared to contradict President Tinubu’s recent claim that insecurity-related fatalities had fallen by as much as 81 per cent under government security interventions.
Responding, Onanuga defended the Federal Government’s position, insisting that the Presidency relies on intelligence and statistics supplied by the Office of the National Security Adviser.
“The data we’re offering is the data provided by the Office of National Security Adviser. That’s the data we use,” he said.
Questioning alternative datasets, he argued that independent reports should not automatically be treated as more credible than official government figures.
“They may be wrong. The data we have is the data from the Office of National Security Adviser. You cannot say the data is wrong and only this one is right,” he added.
The comments have reignited debate over the measurement of insecurity in Nigeria, where incidents of terrorism, banditry, communal violence and kidnapping continue to dominate public discourse.
Security concerns remain one of the biggest challenges confronting the Tinubu administration. While critics point to recurring attacks and abductions as evidence of persistent threats, government officials insist that security agencies have achieved notable gains in degrading criminal and terrorist networks across the country.
The controversy over security statistics is expected to continue as analysts, civil society groups and government agencies present competing assessments of the country’s security situation.
