In an interview on Arise TV, Adewole Adebayo, the presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), has claimed that bandits are becoming bolder because the government is creating space for them.
Adebayo argued that criminal elements only gain confidence when security forces fail to act with full force, stating that the state possesses superior firepower and intelligence capacity but has not deployed them effectively. He said the situation has left many Nigerians considering street protests.
The SDP leader also called for the recruitment of more personnel into the armed forces and police to strengthen community protection, noting that existing security services have officers with strong professional records who can be leveraged in the fight against insecurity.
In his words, “They are becoming bolder because the government is creating space for them. Anybody will be bold until the bullet hits them in the forehead. The issue is that the government has the bigger gun; they don’t want to use it. They have bigger intelligence gathering; they don’t want to use it. Many of the people are threatening to protest in the street now. There are people the government could have recruited into the armed forces, into the police, and to make sure that we are able to protect our community. Every service we have is staffed by officers with sterling qualities.
