President Tinubu Must Act Now: Protect Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan Before Another Tragedy Defines Nigeria -By Professor John Egbeazien Oshodi

A Cry Beyond Politics: When a Woman’s Courage Becomes a National Test

A functioning democracy protects its dissenters, not punishes them. Yet in Nigeria today, the safety of one woman has become a mirror of how fragile our national conscience has grown.

Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan stands almost alone in a chamber of 108 senators — the only bold, outspoken female voice who has refused to trade dignity for favor. Her defiance has become both her strength and her sentence.

Barely days after returning to plenary on October 7, 2025, following a six-month suspension, she received a chilling death threat. The message, sent through iMessenger by one Tobechi Okwuonu (mailtobex2000@yahoo.com), read in part:

“Your death sentence is in full swing… You are a corpse… Rot in hell, Wicked Bitch. You won’t reincarnate.”

It was not just an insult — it was psychological warfare, meant to humiliate, terrorize, and remind a woman that in Nigeria, courage is still treated as rebellion.

From Harassment to Terror: A Pattern of Punishment

This threat is only the latest chapter in a long record of intimidation and violence:

• April 2025: Armed men attacked her family home in Obeiba-Ihima, Kogi State.
• June 2025: The same residence was assaulted again; one suspect, Suberu Jose, was arrested — then silence.
• July 2025: Immigration officers seized her passport at Abuja Airport under vague “security orders,” without legal basis.
• September 2025: Police fired teargas at peaceful citizens demanding her reinstatement at the National Assembly gates.

Each event follows the same script — intimidation, institutional quiet, and public fatigue. What begins as politics becomes persecution.

The Security Silence That Kills

The Nigeria Police Force (NPF), Department of State Services (DSS), Nigerian Intelligence Agency (NIA), and the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) must not again wait for tragedy before acting.

The DSS should already have deployed a 24-hour personal-protection team. The NPF’s cyber-crime unit should have traced the digital sender and interrogated the suspect. The NIA should be analyzing possible external links. Above all, the NSA — the coordinating brain of the nation’s security — must convene an emergency inter-agency briefing and treat this threat as a national security matter, not a political sideshow.

The NSA’s office is not ceremonial. It integrates intelligence, directs risk analysis, and reports directly to the President. If it fails to act swiftly, Nigeria risks losing more than one senator — it risks the last fragile thread of public trust.

The Attorney General Must Step In — Justice Delayed Is Complicity

The Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) cannot remain an observer. His constitutional duty is to ensure the law protects citizens equally, especially when other institutions freeze.

He must immediately:

• Authorize a criminal investigation under the Terrorism Prevention Act and the Cybercrime Act.
• Reopen the cases of the previous armed attacks on her residence and disclose the investigation status of the arrested suspect.
• Issue transparent progress reports to the public within 14 days and at regular intervals.

When justice hesitates, impunity strengthens. The AGF’s intervention can restore faith that the law still serves the people and not only the powerful.

Tinubu’s Test: Leadership Is Protection, Not Rhetoric

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu must demonstrate that security is not selective. Through the NSA, he should create a Joint Protective Intelligence Task Force bringing together the DSS, NPF, NIA, and the AGF’s monitoring unit.
This task force should provide 24-hour armed protection for Senator Natasha and her family, monitor both physical and cyber threats, and brief the public weekly.
Presidential silence will be read as consent; presidential action will be remembered as courage. The world is watching — and only decisive leadership can stop Nigeria from looking darker and darker.

The Senate Must Find Its Conscience

The red chamber cannot hide behind procedure while one of its members lives under threat. The almost all-male Senate — especially those who once spoke dismissively toward Senator Natasha, including the leadership and the Senate President himself — must issue a joint statement condemning the threat and pledging institutional solidarity.

Anything less will confirm moral decay.

And the three elder female senators, who have so far chosen decorum over voice, must now speak out. To remain silent is to abandon every young girl watching. The male senators who once mocked or opposed her should also speak publicly against any violence directed at this now national and global name.

If This Were America or Britain…

In the United States, the FBI and Secret Service would already be at her residence, securing devices, tracing IPs, and placing her under round-the-clock protection.
In the United Kingdom, Operation Bridger would deploy protective officers within hours.
In France, the GSPR and domestic intelligence agencies would activate immediate personal security while briefing the Élysée Palace daily.
In Nigeria, we issue statements and pray. But hope cannot stop bullets.

The Psychological Cost: When Threats Become Therapy Cases                       

This is not only political aggression; it is a psychological assault. Such threats inflict sleeplessness, hyper-vigilance, and deep anxiety. They erode trust in institutions and weaken the will to serve.
As a psychologist, I can say clearly: prolonged intimidation rewires the nervous system, damages health, and kills purpose. Protecting her is not just about security; it is national therapy — a message to every woman that courage will be defended, not punished.

Men of the Chamber: Speak, Protect, or Be Remembered for Silence

No accusation is made here against any senator. But those who once derided her must now defend her right to live. The Senate President himself should issue a personal statement denouncing violence, not for optics but for history.
Silence will haunt longer than applause.

And now, painfully yet truthfully, this writer — like many Nigerians — sees her not merely as a senator but as the Queen of the Senate, perhaps even the moral Queen of Nigeria. She has earned that crown not through privilege but through persecution, not through inheritance but through humiliation. Every insult became her coronation robe, every attempt to silence her became a drumbeat announcing her name.
It is a strange kind of monarchy — one born from struggle, sustained by courage, and crowned by the people’s faith.

The Silenced Fourth Estate: When the Press Turns Away from Power                      

The Nigerian print media, once the people’s conscience, now mostly echo the powerful. Honest reporting has shrunk; courage has become rare ink.
A few exceptions — Premium Times and People’s Gazette — continue to shine through the fog of fear. Their work reminds us that journalism is not a favor to government but a duty to the governed.
Some anchors on Channels TV and Arise News still ask the difficult questions others avoid. They are holding a flickering torch for truth.
We must also thank social media — the people’s newsroom, where facts leak when traditional media look away. Without it, Senator Natasha’s ordeal might have disappeared into silence.
The threat against her is not gossip; it is a national security issue. The media must treat it as such. Silence is not neutrality; it is complicity disguised as professionalism.

A Nation’s Mirror: What We Do Next Will Define Our Future

Nigeria has lost too many voices to indifference. Each uninvestigated threat becomes rehearsal for another tragedy. This one must end differently.
Protecting Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan is not about politics or gender; it is about whether Nigeria still values life over power.

Closing Reflection: Democracy as Therapy

The pain: a republic that mistakes control for leadership is unwell.
The joy: therapy works — when truth is spoken, apologies made, and courage honored.
Let the NSA, AGF, DSS, NPF, and NIA act jointly, not sequentially.
Let the Senate President and his colleagues issue a statement of condemnation, not convenience.
Let President Tinubu ensure that no woman’s life becomes collateral damage for politics.
This writer does not know any of the individuals personally; the concern here is justice, integrity, and the conscience of governance.
Protecting Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan is not just about saving one woman — it is about saving Nigeria’s faith that democracy can still protect its bravest voice.

About the Author

Prof. John Egbeazien Oshodi is an American psychologist, educator, and public affairs analyst specializing in forensic, legal, clinical, and cross-cultural psychology. Born in Uromi, Edo State, Nigeria, and son of a 37-year veteran of the Nigeria Police Force, he has dedicated his career to linking psychology with justice, education, and governance. In 2011, he introduced advanced forensic psychology to Nigeria through the National Universities Commission and Nasarawa State University, where he served as Associate Professor of Psychology.

He is currently contributing faculty in the Doctorate in Clinical and School Psychology at Nova Southeastern University; PhD Clinical Psychology, BS Psychology, and BS Tempo Criminal Justice programs at Walden University; Professor of Leadership Studies/Management and Social Sciences (Virtual Faculty) at ISCOM University, Benin Republic; and virtual faculty at Weldios University. He also serves as President and Chief Psychologist at the Oshodi Foundation, Center for Psychological and Forensic Services, United States.

Prof. Oshodi is a Black Republican with interests in individual responsibility, community self-reliance, and institutional democracy. He is the founder of Psychoafricalysis (Psychoafricalytic Psychology), a culturally grounded framework centering African sociocultural realities, historical memory, and future-oriented identity. He has authored over 500 articles, multiple books, and numerous peer-reviewed journal articles spanning Africentric psychological theory, higher education reform, forensic and correctional psychology, African democracy, and decolonized therapeutic models.