The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has criticised the Federal Government over a reported N500 million expenditure on an emergency international media campaign.

The argued that public funds should be channelled towards tackling insecurity rather than managing the country’s image abroad.

It also demanded full disclosure of how the money was spent, insisting that Nigerians deserve to know the beneficiaries, procurement process, deliverables and measurable outcomes of what it described as an emergency strategic communications campaign.

In a statement issued on Sunday by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, HURIWA said government priorities appeared misplaced at a time communities in parts of the country continue to grapple with violent attacks.

According to the rights group, the reported expenditure was released on December 19, 2025, to the Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Policy Communications for what was described as an emergency strategic communications and global media engagement campaign to counter allegations of Christian persecution in Nigeria.

HURIWA maintained that government should focus more on preventing attacks and protecting lives than on contesting international narratives about the country’s security situation.

“A government cannot defeat insecurity with propaganda. It cannot protect citizens with public relations campaigns. And it cannot bury the truth beneath a mountain of carefully crafted media messaging,” the group said.

The organisation argued that the country’s pressing challenge was not the quality of its international image but the safety of citizens in their homes, farms, places of worship and communities.

It said the reported expenditure was particularly troubling against the backdrop of persistent violence in Plateau, Benue and other conflict-prone states, adding that Nigerians expected increased investment in intelligence gathering, security operations, emergency response and the rebuilding of devastated communities.

HURIWA challenged the Federal Government to provide a comprehensive account of the reported N500 million, including the companies, consultants, agencies or media organisations that received the funds, the procurement process adopted and evidence that the expenditure delivered value for money.

“If the government believes the N500 million was properly spent, let the details be published. Let Nigerians know who received the money, what was delivered, what was achieved and why the expenditure was necessary. Public money cannot disappear into the black hole of ‘strategic communications’ while citizens are left to count corpses,” it said.

The rights group also cited figures it said were drawn from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED), claiming that between July 2025 and June 2026 Nigeria recorded 7,956 conflict incidents, about 15,000 deaths and an estimated 66.8 million people exposed to violence and insecurity.

It argued that such figures, if accurate, should trigger an emergency national security response rather than an emergency public relations campaign.

While acknowledging the Federal Government’s position that insecurity affects both Christians and Muslims and is driven by terrorism, banditry, communal violence and other criminal activities, HURIWA said authorities still had a duty to investigate allegations of targeted attacks against any vulnerable group.

“Whether a victim is Christian, Muslim or adherent of any other faith, the Nigerian state has one overriding obligation: protect life. The government must stop treating the documentation of killings as a public-relations inconvenience. Every Nigerian life matters,” it stated.

The organisation also questioned reports that the Federal Government engaged a United States-based lobbying and public affairs firm, DCI Group, through Aster Legal, under a reported $9 million annual arrangement aimed at strengthening Nigeria’s engagement with U.S. policymakers.

Although it said it was not opposed to legitimate diplomatic engagement, HURIWA argued that lobbying and public relations campaigns should not become substitutes for decisive action against terrorism, banditry and attacks on vulnerable communities.

It urged the government to publish the full terms of the reported lobbying arrangement, including the approving authority, procurement process, contractual obligations and measurable outcomes.

HURIWA further expressed concern over the reported killing of nine members of the extended family of Plateau-based cleric, Rev. Ezekiel Dachomo, in Kum village, Riyom Local Government Area of Plateau State, describing the incident as another reminder of the country’s worsening security situation.

The group called for a transparent investigation into the attack, the arrest and prosecution of those responsible and stronger measures to protect vulnerable communities.

It also urged the government to treat concerns raised by foreign governments and international organisations over insecurity as issues requiring concrete action rather than image management.

“The answer to international concern is not to hire more people to explain away Nigeria’s security failures. The answer is to make those failures disappear through effective governance, competent policing, intelligence-led operations and justice,” HURIWA said.

The group called on President Bola Tinubu‘s administration to publish details of the reported N500 million communications expenditure and the reported $9 million lobbying arrangement, redirect more resources towards security and intelligence, ensure transparent investigations into major attacks and establish measurable benchmarks for evaluating progress in the fight against insecurity.

It maintained that Nigeria’s international reputation would improve naturally when citizens could travel, farm, worship and live without fear.

“The Federal Government must stop fighting the narrative and start winning the war against insecurity. Nigerians need security, not spin. They need justice, not propaganda. They need government action, not government explanations,” the statement added.