The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has slammed President Bola Tinubu’s administration for withholding the truth about the kidnapping of Christians in the Kajure Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

In a statement on Thursday, ADC spokesperson Bolaji Abdullahi said the government could not be trusted to protect Nigerians.

“This episode raises a fundamental and dangerous question for our country: can a government whose first instinct is to withhold information and hide the truth be trusted to protect lives and improve security?” the statement read.

Accusing Mr Tinubu’s administration of exposing Nigerians to further risk, it added, “A government that lies during a security crisis does not merely fail its people; it actively places them at further risk.”

Scores of worshippers were kidnapped after a gang of bandits attacked a church in the local government on Sunday. But the Kaduna police commissioner, Muhammad Rabiu, and some local government officials dismissed the report as fake news.

However, the police national spokesman, Benjamin Hundeyin, said Mr Rabiu lied to prevent panic.

While expressing grave concerns over the development, the ADC said the denial was not a mere communication error but a patterned behaviour of Mr Tinubu’s government, obsessed with looking good before Nigerians rather than tackling insecurity.

“The deliberate denial of a verified mass abduction is not a communications error. It is the behaviour of a government obsessed with looking good rather than solving problems. In moments of violence and emergency, truth is the first line of defence.

“It guides response, enables rescue, mobilises communities, and reassures a frightened public. However, when a government chooses silence or falsehood, it compounds danger, delays action, and deepens trauma,” the party stated.

Meanwhile, former presidential candidate Peter Obi, in a statement on Wednesday, said police and local government officials who denied the incident should be sanctioned for their outright denials.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had condemned Mr Tinubu’s administration for keeping quiet following the bandits’ attack on the church.