Nigerian media creating false narrative of insecurity, says Tinubu’s aide
Presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga
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The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, has accused sections of the Nigerian media of creating a false impression that the country is overwhelmed by insecurity, insisting that security challenges, though real, do not mean the nation is under siege.
Speaking during an interview on Arise Television on Tuesday, Onanuga said media reports often portray insecurity as if it has engulfed every part of Nigeria.
“The problem is that the media in Nigeria, they’re even creating the problem. The way they’re reporting security is as if the entire country is consumed,” he said.
He argued that many Nigerians still travel safely across different parts of the country and cited examples of people undertaking long road trips without incident.
“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 stated.
According to him, while incidents of kidnapping and attacks remain a concern, many of them occur at night despite longstanding warnings from security agencies against night travel.
“Any time I read about either a kidnap or an attack somewhere, sometimes I look at the time. I say, wow, it happened 8 p.m., it happened 9 p.m., sometimes 1 a.m. A long time ago, the police told people to stop travelling at night,” Onanuga said.
The presidential aide also recounted a conversation with a government official who reportedly travelled a long distance by road, saying such experiences contradict claims that movement across the country has become impossible.
Onanuga’s comments came during a discussion on data relating to terror-related fatalities in Nigeria between 2015 and 2026.
Responding to figures presented by interviewers from Beacon Security and Intelligence Limited and the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), which reportedly indicated a rise in fatalities over the period, Onanuga defended the Federal Government’s statistics.
The data presented during the programme suggested that terror-related deaths linked to groups such as ISWAP, bandits, IPOB, ESN and armed herders increased by 4.6 per cent between 2015 and 2025, contradicting President Tinubu’s recent claim of an 81 per cent reduction in insecurity-related fatalities.
However, Onanuga maintained that the Presidency relies on information supplied by the Office of the National Security Adviser.
“You can’t be so categorical about that. 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 the credibility of alternative datasets, he added: “Whoever has compiled this, where have you got it from?”
When informed that the figures were compiled by independent organisations recognised internationally for conflict tracking and security analysis, Onanuga insisted that government data should not be dismissed outright.
“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 said.
Olugbenga Ige is a journalist at Punch Newspapers with over nine years of professional reporting experience. He is known for his sharp eye for compelling stories and a strong instinct for identifying newsworthy developments. Over the years, Olugbenga has built a reputation for turning leads into clear, engaging, and well-structured reports that resonate with readers. His work reflects deep newsroom experience, editorial judgment, and a commitment to accurate, impactful journalism.
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