The Allied Peoples Movement has challenged President Bola Tinubu and the Minister of Defence to travel Nigeria's highways without security escorts, arguing that officials would approach insecurity differently if they used the roads on the same terms as ordinary citizens.

The party framed the challenge as rhetorical rather than serious, but the point behind it is one that recurs in Nigerian public debate: that the people setting security policy are the people least exposed to its failures.

Kidnapping for ransom on interstate routes has remained a persistent problem across parts of the North-West and North-Central, and travellers on several corridors still time journeys around daylight.

Pressure from a small party

The APM is a minor player electorally, but it has been unusually vocal this cycle. The same party called this month for the President to withdraw from the 2027 race over allegations relating to a decades-old case in the United States.

The Federal Government has expanded a forest guards programme into additional states as part of its response to rural banditry, and has pointed to that scheme when pressed on the issue.

Neither the presidency nor the defence ministry responded to the APM's remarks.

Reporting by Vanguard. This summary was written by the TalkNaijaMedia desk.