Group expresses concern as terrorists murder over 3,000 citizens, says conflict is not a tribal war but a national threat enabled by state failure
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
A civil society group has asked Abuja to walk its talk on security, expressing alarm that 3,610 citizens were murdered by terrorists in the first quarter of the year ended March 31 (Q1 2025) while Bola Tinubu schemes mainly to entrench state capture with his political allies.
The Nigeria Youth Forum (NYF) urged the federal government to get sincere and to take decisive actions against jihadists who carry out more daring acts by the day, maiming, kidnapping, killing, and collecting millions of naira in ransom from hapless Nigerians.
A statement issued by NYF National President Toriah Felani alerted that the country is drifting dangerously toward anarchy, citing the relentless killings in Benue, Zamfara, Katsina, Borno, Plateau, and the emergence of terror-linked groups in Kwara as a coordinated assault on national stability.
The group rejected the proposed security summit by the National Assembly (NASS), dismissing it as a repetitive and ineffective measure.
“We have no confidence whatsoever in the National Assembly’s proposed security summit. It will amount to another round of talk shows and hollow communiqués. If the President [Bola Tinubu] had sacked just one GOC or Commissioner of Police over the atrocities in these states, others would have sat up by now,” Felani said.
The NYF cited a recent BBC Hausa report which detailed the alarming statistics of killings and abductions across the country.
The report recorded the death toll as Niger (631), Zamfara (585), and Borno (514). Katsina, Kaduna, Sokoto, and Kebbi also witnessed significant violence.
Additional data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) shows that more than 614,000 Nigerians were killed in the past year, with 2.2 million abducted nationwide.
The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) reported 4,556 fatalities and 7,086 abductions between May 2023 and May 2024 alone, with the North West and North Central the most affected.
“Nigeria is bleeding while our leaders chase shadows,” the NYF lamented. “Every week, the country is plunged into fresh chaos, and all we get are recycled press statements and condolence messages.”
House of Representatives member Ahmadu Jaha (Damboa, Gwoza, and Chibok Federal Constituency of Borno) has at plenary decried the resurgence of Boko Haram and ISWAP in the North, saying the insurgents now deploy weaponised drones more advanced than those in Nigeria’s military arsenal.
The NYF echoed these concerns, warning that recent attacks in Uromi (Edo), Jos (Plateau), and parts of Kaduna are clear signs of an expanding warfront.
The group attributed the violence to foreign mercenaries and well-armed terrorist networks infiltrating the borders.
“Tuareg fighters, Berbers, and war-hardened militias from the Sahel have infiltrated Nigeria’s porous borders. These are not random attacks; they are planned operations with strategic objectives,” Felani insisted.
The NYF cautioned that Nigeria risks descending into full-scale war if urgent and far-reaching actions are not taken immediately.
It sought immediate reforms in national security architecture, increased funding, deployment of modern warfare technologies, and political will from the presidency to halt the descent into chaos.
“If this trend continues, banks will close, markets will shut down, and the economy will grind to a halt. Checkpoints will be manned by militias. Those dreaming of escape will be trapped behind barricades manned by lawless armed groups,” the NYF warned.
It also advocated for more budgetary allocation to the agricultural sector as a means to reduce unemployment and curtail insecurity.
“We should have no business with hunger and poverty, because there are over 84 million hectares of arable land, of which only 35% are in use by Nigerians mostly in subsistence farming.”
The NYF stressed that the crisis is not a tribal war but a national threat enabled by state failure.
“If Rwanda’s history taught us anything, it is that status and wealth won’t shield anyone when the system collapses.”
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