UN-WCD Calls for Matawalle’s Removal as Nigeria Bleeds

Analysis, Investigations, National Security, Nigeria

UN-WCD Calls for Matawalle’s Removal as Nigeria Bleeds

Kimberly Daniels urges Tinubu to redeploy Matawalle as fresh killings, airstrike fallout and CPC pressure intensify.

April 16, 2026

3–5 minutes

Atlantic Post, Bello Matawalle, Country of Particular Concern, Kimberly Daniels, Nigeria insecurity, Plateau Killings, UN-WCD

Nigeria’s security crisis has again spilled into the international arena after Kimberly Daniels, a Florida state representative and chairwoman of the United World Congress of Diplomats, called for the removal or redeployment of the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, over what she described as alarming failures in the country’s security architecture.

Daniels released the report amid a fresh wave of killings across north central and north western Nigeria, and urged President Bola Tinubu to “look inward” and remove elements she said were compromising national security.

The report, according to TheCable and Premium Times, focused on attacks during the 2026 Easter period and said violence had surged around Palm Sunday and Easter services in Plateau, Kaduna and Nasarawa states.

Daniels argued that there was a widening gap between the government’s public condemnations and the reality in communities that continue to bury their dead.

She also pressed for a transparent investigation into allegations of complicity at higher levels of the security system and called for stronger protection for vulnerable communities.

Its strongest criticism was directed at Matawalle. The report raised what it called “red flags” about his suitability for the post, citing allegations linked to his time as governor of Zamfara State, including claims of tolerance for bandit activity, allegations of harbouring bandit leaders and questions over his strategic depth in a role that demands serious security expertise.

These remain allegations contained in the report, not judicially tested findings, but they are politically explosive because they strike at the heart of a ministry already under intense public scrutiny.

That scrutiny has been sharpened by the government’s own language. On 31 March 2026, the State House condemned killings in Plateau and Kaduna, describing the attacks as “barbaric and cowardly” and warning that the perpetrators would not go unpunished.

Tinubu also ordered security agencies to intensify efforts, rescue abductees and act on early warning intelligence. The problem, however, is that condemnation has become routine while the violence keeps mutating.

The Easter season exposed that failure in brutal fashion. AP reported at least 26 deaths in three attacks across northern Nigeria over the weekend, while Guardian reported 17 killed in Benue alone and Open Doors said at least 33 people were killed and many kidnapped across the holiday period.

Taken together, those accounts point to a co-ordinated security breakdown across multiple states, not an isolated incident. That is precisely why Daniels’ report landed so hard: it tied the killings on the ground to a crisis of confidence at the top.

The wider backdrop is even more disturbing. Reuters reported on 13 and 15 April 2026 that a Nigerian military airstrike in Jilli village, Borno State, left an estimated 200 people dead, while previous air operations in January 2025, December 2024, September 2024, April 2024, December 2023 and January 2023 also produced civilian casualties, including in Kaduna and Nasarawa.

The pattern matters because it shows how insecurity is no longer only about insurgents, but also about the state’s repeated failure to protect civilians during operations meant to defeat them.

This is the political pressure point Daniels is exploiting. The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom said on 3 November 2025 that President Trump made Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern, adding that USCIRF had recommended such a designation since 2009.

USCIRF’s 2026 annual report says nearly 53,000 Nigerian civilians have been killed since 2009 in the wider religious violence crisis, including around 21,000 in the last five years alone. In Florida, House Resolution 761, “Persecution of Christians in Nigeria”, was adopted on 25 February 2026 and supports redesignating Nigeria as a CPC.

The report also lands at a time when Matawalle’s continued place in the defence hierarchy remains a live issue.

Nigeria’s Ministry of Defence website on 13 April 2026 listed Gen. Christopher Gwabin Musa as Minister of Defence and showed the ministry’s current structure, while a ministry release from November 2025 identified Matawalle as Minister of State for Defence, confirming his role in the period under scrutiny.

That makes Daniels’ call not merely symbolic, but a direct challenge to the political management of Nigeria’s security apparatus.

The deeper story is that Nigeria is being judged simultaneously by its citizens, by faith communities abroad and by foreign policymakers who see a state unable to stop mass killings, kidnappings and civilian harm.

Daniels’ report, whether one agrees with its conclusions or not, has turned a domestic security failure into an international accountability test.

For Tinubu, the danger is not only the loss of lives in Plateau, Kaduna, Benue, Nasarawa and beyond. It is the slow erosion of public trust in a government that keeps promising order while the country keeps counting its dead.