Former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, Comrade Timi Frank, has condemned the killing of nine protesting women in Yola, Adamawa State, describing the incident as an unprovoked and unacceptable assault on defenceless citizens.
The women were reportedly shot dead by soldiers during a protest in Lamurde Local Government Area on Monday, while 51 others sustained varying degrees of gunshot injuries and are still receiving treatment in hospitals across the state.
Frank, in a statement issued in Abuja, denounced what he called the “senseless, unforgivable, inhuman and avoidable” killing of the victims, lamenting that the women—many of them mothers and breadwinners—were met with lethal force while demanding security for their families. “Their only offence was demanding safety,” he said.
He said the incident has deepened public outrage and further exposed what he described as recurring state violence and military impunity in Nigeria and other parts of Africa. Citing alarming figures, he noted that over 10,000 Nigerian youths have either been killed or disappeared in recent years through military operations and extrajudicial actions. “This culture of violence and unaccountability must end,” he added.
Frank dismissed the government’s pattern of setting up inquiry panels as mere “political theatre,” insisting that past cases—from the #EndSARS shootings at Lekki Toll Gate to similar crackdowns across the continent—have shown that those who give or enforce shoot-to-kill orders are rarely held accountable. “This time, we will not accept delays, excuses or another meaningless probe,” he vowed.
He demanded the arrest and prosecution of the officers involved in the Yola killings, as well as full compensation for the bereaved families, including scholarships for the victims’ children and long-term economic support. “These women must not die in vain,” he stressed.
Frank also called on the International Criminal Court to investigate military abuses in Nigeria and across Africa and urged the global community, especially human rights groups and world leaders, to speak out. He appealed directly to the U S President Donald Trump to demand accountability and support international action. “The U S has shown willingness to stand with oppressed African citizens. We appeal for that moral leadership now,” he said.
According to him, the killing of the Yola Nine is not only a national tragedy but “a stain on Africa’s conscience,” one that must prompt urgent reforms to ensure that security agencies stop turning their guns on peaceful citizens. “Justice must be non negotiable. Accountability must be immediate. And this barbarism must never happen again,” he declared.
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