…Nigerians losing hope as situation worsens nationwide
• Govt grapples to tackle, arrest situation • Security experts advise self-help, urge citizens to defend themselves
By Cosmas Omegoh
These are arduous times in the country. The insecurity in the land is worsening by the day. Wherever two or three people are gathered, part of their discussions must touch on the high level of insecurity challenge in the land, a palpable fear everyone is feeling.
Consequently, concerned citizens are calling for an urgent action, demanding the government to do more.
Across the length and breadth of the country, criminals and other felons are on the prowl; they are ruling with gusto, spreading sadness, sorrows, anger and anxiety. They keep pillaging the land, doing so in a manner never seen before. And as it stands, not one person can say they are secure anymore at home, workplace, on the roads, the fields, anywhere.
At every turn, kidnappers are seizing innocent persons and taking them far into ungoverned spaces. There, they are tortured mercilessly with the video footages of the horrendous act sent to the relatives of victims to coerce them to pay huge ransom to their heartless captors. Those whose relatives cannot meet the deadline get summarily killed.
In many cases, the victims had accused the Fulani herdsmen, who they accused of being terrorists of baying for blood and their land.
The herders, they claim, are on the rampage – killing, maiming, and spreading horror.
In another instance, self-styled bandits operate unhinged. In the Northwestern part of the country, they freely rustle cattle, killing people and demanding ransom for their atrocious acts.
There are equally other criminals everywhere, who have elevated their evil to a trade to new heights.
As for the Boko Haram insurgents, and their ISWAP counterpart, they still have their fingers permanently on the trigger. There is no let up to their avowed mission of making the Northeast ungovernable with their wanton killing.
What is common among all the categories of criminals is that they are always violent, vicious. The government seems overwhelmed; people are damned, as evil treads on.
Across homes and hamlets, victims and survivors of the new normal in the country have similar accounts of their firsthand experience with insecurity. Each is chilly, mind-boggling and heart-rending, some too strange to believe, yet they actually happened.
But how the country arrived at this crossroads unannounced remains an agitating question many are tired of asking.
Boko Haram menace in Northeast
This started in a small scale in 2002 in the Northeast as Jamāʿat Ahl al-Sunnah li-l-Daʿawah wa al-Jihād (People committed to the Prophet’s teachings for propagation and Jihad.). Its leader was the late Mohammed Yusuf.
According to Wikipedia, Boko Haram’s goal was “to uproot the corruption and injustice in Nigeria, which it blamed on Western influences, and to impose Shariah, or Islamic law” – thus the name, Boko Haram (Western education is forbidden).
Then following the death of Yusuf in 2009 in the hands of security forces, the group went ballistic, vowing to avenge his death.
In 2015 the group pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Since then, its members have not let down their guards.
There is Islamic State for West African Province (ISWAP); also known as Islamic State in West Africa, or ISWA, believed to be Boko Haram’s splinter group. Together, they have made the vast Nigeria’s old Northeast region ungovernable. They keep killing soldiers, farmers and fishermen. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians have been killed by the group. This year alone, the insurgents have killed scores.
In January, no fewer than 40 farmers were reportedly killed in the Dumba community in the Kukawa Local Government Area of Borno State by Boko Haram and ISWAP insurgents.
In another instance, on January 26, 2025, no fewer than 20 soldiers of Nigerian Army’s 149th Battalion stationed in Malam-Fatori, were reportedly killed in a suspected attack by ISWAP fighters.
Then on February 25, 2025, suspected Boko Haram terrorists attacked Kwapre in the New Yadul District of Hong LGA of Adamawa State, killing people, burning houses, businesses, schools and churches.
There was also Boko Haram attack on March 24, on two military formations in Wajirko, Damboa Local Government Area, and another in Wulgo, Gamboru Ngala Local Government Area, dislodging the soldiers.
Bandits on the prowl in Northwest
Shortly after 2015, “bandits” entered the Nigerian lexicon with countless cells of terrorists taking over almost the entire forested areas of the Northwest. Since then, Katsina, Sokoto, Kebbi, Kaduna and Zamfara states have not remained the same.
Since the criminals emerged in the states, they have been rustling cows, kidnapping for ransom, killing for fun and committing various atrocities. Hundreds of victims have died following their dastardly acts.
Former president, Muhammadu Buhari, could not stop the criminals from taking his home state – Katsina – by the jugular. He was helpless.
Lately, bandits stormed the home of a former Nigerian Army General, M.I. Tsiga, in Bakori LGA of Katsina State, and abducted him just to underline the precarious nature of the situation.
An unconfirmed report said it took the intervention of Tsiga’s friends and associates for his rescue to happen. This followed a note of appreciation allegedly issued by one of his friends that went viral on the social media. But whether ransom was paid or not to free him could not be ascertained.
And while the nation bickered whether one of the bandit leaders, Bello Turji, was alive or dead, he celebrated his last Sallah outing with the killing of 11 farmers in Lugu in Isa Local government of Sokoto State – just to underline his prowess in the killing trade.
Lakurawa in Northwest
While the country’s military battled the bandits, a new terrorist group, Lakurawa, emerged on the horizon.
Sources said that Lakurawa is a group of herdsmen who later turned bandits and began to operate in the communities along the Nigeria-Niger border. The members are said to be light-skinned, speaking Arabic and Fulfulde languages.
According to a researcher, James Barnett, Lakurawa members engage in preaching and imposing harsh edicts on local communities, adding that, that was an indication that “they are ambitious, potentially thinking the big picture about eventually extending their territorial influence to Nigeria.”
The group consists of terrorists from various tribes, including Hausa, Fulani, Toureq and Barebari, among others.
Quoting the military, Reuters said that the previously unknown Lakurawa was linked to Islamic State and operated in the states of Kebbi and Sokoto.
“It first emerged in Northwest Nigeria in 2018, when the group started helping locals fight armed gangs known as bandits.”
Reuters noted that not long after the relationship between the two went sour, the residents started accusing Lakurawa of stealing their cattle and seeking to impose strict Islamic laws. Then the group pushed to the Niger and Mali fringes from where they began their onslaught on the border communities.
According to Nigerian Army defence spokesperson, Edward Buba, the Lakurawa group was originally not a threat until it began its campaigns.
The police claimed the group now operates in areas such as Tangaza, Gudu, Ilela, Binji, and Silame in Sokoto State. But now, it has widened its operations into Kebbi State.
On March 11, 2025, for instance, the group while responding to the killing of their leader, Maigemu, by the military, attacked Birnin Dede community in Arewa Local Government Area of Kebbi State and killed 13 people. They also set eight villages on fire during the onslaught.
Then on Sunday April 7, 2025, the terrorist group killed 13 members of a vigilance group when its members attacked Morai community in Augie Local Government Area of Kebbi State. The killing came on the heels of their reported attempt to rustle cattle from the community. So far, the entire region is on edge.
Kidnapping, herdsmen menace everywhere
There is virtually no part of the country that is not experiencing the bitter onslaught of herders most of them believed to be of Fulani stock.
The herders who hang thickly in the bushes are said to be heavily involved in kidnapping, rape, killing of farmers who challenge them for destroying their farms and produce with their cattle.
In Delta State, residents of some communities in Isoko and Ukwuani areas are said to be having a rough patch in the hands of herders.
A resident of the area who pledged anonymity said that some farmers in the areas were under constant threat of herdsmen, just as some roads in the areas have been rendered dangerous for people to pass.
Some days ago, a video footage of a pastor who was kidnapped and beaten while he was travelling between Umunede and Obio also in Delta State emerged. He was robbed, his dress torn, his head broken. He said his attacker retreated into the bushes.
The story is not different in Imo State, where communities in Ngor Okpalla and Owerri-West council areas are under constant threat. They can no longer go to their farms citing the fear of the herders.
Our correspondent learned that a woman was killed some days ago on her farm for daring to challenge the herders destroying her crops. So many attacks and kidnappings had taken place in the Avu and Obinze axis of Owerri-West.
Criminals, land grabbing everywhere
Equally across the country there is a coordinated pattern of killing and sacking of indigenous land owners, which has been going on for long.
In Plateaus State, for instance, the motive has persisted.
Just some days ago in Bokkos, 52 persons were killed in their villages. This followed the same pattern that had been going on in areas like Mangu, Barkin Ladi in the state, according to the state governor, Mr Caleb Muftwang.
In Benue State, a similar killing has been taking place for years. The owners of the land have been displaced and driven into various camps where they have lived as Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).
Our correspondent gathered that areas like Gwer East and Gwer West, Kwande local governments are no-go areas.
Criminals believed to be Fulani had taken over the areas for a long time. Owners of some communities in the area cannot go home.
In Enugu State, there have been constant killings going on in Eha Amufu and Uzo Uwani with many communities displaced.
Similar killings have been going on in Ezza communities in Ebonyi State, and Adani in Anambra State.
In Ondo State, many cocoa farmers can no longer go to their farms, fearing the onslaught of terror gangs operating in the bushes, killing and kidnapping for ransom.
The natives’ constant protests lately have not changed anything. In Oyo State, communities around Iseyin have been having running battles with herders who give them hell.
In Edo State, kidnapping for ransom has become a regular occurrence.
Our correspondent gathered that much of the forest areas of Ishan land have been taken over by criminal gangs kidnapping the natives for ransom. Anger over the vicious onslaught of the criminals believed to be from the North had led to the killing of 16 persons claimed to be hunters in Uromi on March 28, 2025.
In Delta State, similar gangs operating within the Isele Uku axis near Asaba, have been raising concerns.
A resident of the state who expressed shock said some travellers were lately kidnapped in the area.
Then shortly after, they demanded N14 million as ransom, cooked jollof rice and energy drinks, among other things, to celebrate.
In areas between Ihiala and Orlu in Anambra and Imo states, criminal gangs have kept the people on edge, sometimes killing people and burning houses for no discernable reasons. The road between the two towns is hardly used for now for fears of the unknown.
Communal clashes too
Adding to the insecurity in the land is the spate of communal clashes.
It was gathered that communities which fear that land is becoming scarcer often engage each other in mortal fights over land.
In Ebonyi State, for instance, the Ezza communities have always locked one another in such mortal fights, leading to loss of lives and property.
Reactions from govt officials
Reacting to the recent killings in Platueau State, the state governor, Caleb Muftwang, said the incident was linked to some unnamed terrorist groups, adding that the incident is next to genocide.
“I can tell you in all honesty that I cannot find any explanation other than genocide sponsored by terrorists. The question is, who are the persons behind the organisers of this terrorism? This is what the security agencies must help us to unravel,” the governor was quoted as saying.
In an apparent move to douse the tension, Chief of Defence Staff, General Chris Musa had pleaded with the people “not to take laws into their hands, but always revert to constituted authorities in matters that affect security. The Nigeria police, military, and other security agencies are well trained to handle such matters,” while condemning the spate of incidents.
He assured Nigerians that “the Armed Forces of Nigeria will work closely with the police and other relevant security agencies to bring the perpetrators of the dastardly act to book.”
On his part, the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, who condemned the Plateau killing admitted that Nigeria is “going through tough times, difficult times, but it’s not going to be forever. The issue of security is for all of us. We all have to come together. Everyone has a role to play.
“Communities – those who have been living together for years and decades – it’s time for us to say enough is enough. We have lost many people. But it’s not exactly like the figures you see out there. But even one soul lost is a lot.”
Borno State governor, Babagana Zulum, was full of lamentation recently following Boko Haram killing in his state.
“As you are all aware, my administration has been very supportive of the military and other security agencies in the fight against Boko Haram and other terrorists leading to relative peace in the last three years; it is disheartening to note the recent attacks and dislodgement of military formations in Wajirko, Sabon Gari in Damboa local government, Wulgo in Gamboru Ngala, Izge in Gwoza local government areas, among other related killing of innocent civilians and security agencies calls for serious concern, and it is a setback in the fragile state of Borno and the Northeast region.”
But does the Federal Government admit that the situation is getting out of hand?
Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, insisted that the security agencies are working round-the-clock to contain the situation.
“The Tinubu administration is committed to eradicating acts of banditry and terrorism across the country. The successes achieved by the security agencies in the last 18 months are an indication that, indeed, Nigeria is gradually returning to normalcy.”
The Director, Defence Media Operations, Maj. Gen. Markus Kangye believes the military is doing its best, urging the society to try and commend the efforts of the troops in the ongoing terrorism fight.
“The military is sacrificing a lot, and our efforts should be appreciated. We are doing our best. We are doing what we are supposed to do, and we are still doing it.”
Earlier, the Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Mr. Adeola Oluwatosin Ajayi, had urged Nigerians to take responsibility for their own security, insinuating that neither the military, police, nor intelligence agencies has the overall capacity to protect every community from the onslaught of criminals and terrorists..
He was quoted as saying: “Speaking seriously about the practical approach to mobilising against insecurity, I will share my experience when I was a state director in Bauchi.
“Most of you will remember an incident in Azare. A group of Boko Haram terrorists invaded Azare, shooting in an attempt to kidnap people. But the community fought back. They killed some members of the community, but in the end, the people killed all of them. Since that day, there has not been a single terrorist attack in Azare.”
Security professionals react
While lamenting the terrible challenge of insecurity in the country, a security expert, Martins Okojie, faulted the seemingly nonchallant posture of the government to reality before everyone, lamenting that there is no political will to deal with the situation.
“I don’t see the will on the part of the government to deal with the issues on ground.
“In some instances, the government lives in denial that these things are happening. It is when you acknowledge that there is a challenge that you will fashion out strategies to deal with it.
“You often hear some government officials tell you ‘don’t pay ransom to the kidnappers. But it is when your relative is in such a dead end that you will appreciate the enormity of the challenge.”
A retired high-ranking police officer who pledged anonymity alleged a long drawn plot by some powerful persons of a particular ethnic nationality to dislodge people and take over their lands permanently.
“I’m from Benue; for close to six years now, I have not been able to go home. Terrorists have taken over my community and burnt down our schools and churches.
“This is a long-term plan to completely grab our lands and make our people poor,” he said.
He aligned with the insinuation of the DSS Director, Ajayi, that the people should rise and fight for themselves, adding that “the military is already overstretched; the police might not be able to assist. So, Nigerians must take responsibility for their own safety.”