Florida lawmaker Kimberly Daniels has urged President Tinubu to remove Minister Bello Matawalle from his defense post, alleging that internal complicity within the government is fueling terrorist attacks against Nigerian citizens.
Florida State Representative Kimberly Daniels, acting as chairwoman of the United World Congress of Diplomats (UN-WCD), has called on President Bola Tinubu to immediately sack or redeploy the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, citing a critical failure to stem rising insecurity in Nigeria. In a statement released Wednesday following a surge in attacks on religious communities, Daniels urged the Nigerian government to “look inward and remove elements that compromise national security,” specifically recommending an “immediate leadership review” of the defense ministry.
She further advocated for a transparent investigation into allegations of high-level complicity with banditry and called on the U.S. government to apply diplomatic pressure to ensure accountability. Expressing deep concern over the martyrdom of believers in Northern Nigeria, Daniels remarked that “the greatest form of terrorism a person can experience is terror that comes from ‘homegrown familiar enemies,’” adding that it is devastating “when the people you trust to protect you work undercover with others who want to harm you.” While the presidency has yet to issue a formal response, Daniels emphasized that her recommendations are based on assessments of a security architecture she claims is currently being protected by “leadership from the inside.”