How time flies. On April 14, 2014, the Boko Haram insurgents abducted some 276 schoolgirls from their school in Chibok, Borno State. It was the first major abduction carried out by the dreaded terrorist organization since it began its insurgency in 2009. That incident gave rise to the rallying cry: “Bring Back Our Girls”.
Eleven years after, the battle cry now appears to be, “Bring Back Our Governor”. President Bola Tinubu had, in March 2025, declared a state of emergency in Rivers State over a political crisis in that state. He also suspended the state governor, Siminalayi Fubara; his deputy, Ngozi Odu; and all the members of the state House of Assembly. Literally, this indicates that in Nigeria, no one is safe. Both the rich and the poor are held captive by insecurity, corruption, and a few selfish cabal. Ours has become a long walk to freedom.
Between October 2016 and May 2017, over 100 Chibok girls regained their freedom. Regrettably, more than 100 others are still held captive. Incidentally, the same terrorists invaded the Government Secondary School in Dapchi, Yobe State, in February 2018. They kidnapped 110 schoolgirls. Four of the girls died in custody. One hundred and five others were later released. This, perhaps, was after huge ransom must have been paid. The fate of one of the girls, Leah Sharibu, is not yet known. The terrorists failed to release her because she refused to denounce her Christian faith.
Over the years, thousands of students have been kidnapped at random for ransom. In December 2020, the insurgents abducted over 300 schoolboys from the Government Science Secondary School Kankara, in Katsina State. In February 2021, they kidnapped about 27 schoolboys and 15 workers from the Government Science Secondary School, Kagara, in Niger State.
Elsewhere in the country, citizens have continued to live in fear. You could be kidnapped or killed on the road, in your house or even in a place of worship. Between May 29, 2023 and May 22, 2024, the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) estimated that over 4,556 fatalities and 7,086 abductions occurred in Nigeria. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported in its 2024 Crime Experience and Security Perception Survey that over 2.2 million kidnap incidents occurred in Nigeria between May 2023 and April 2024. Within this period, over N2.2 trillion was paid to kidnappers as ransom.
The most recent terrorist act was the barbaric killings in Plateau State. On April 2, 2025, about 3pm, some gunmen invaded Daffo, Mangor, Manguna, Hurti, Ruwi and some other communities in Bokkos Local Government Area (LGA) of Plateau State on motorcycles and started shooting indiscriminately. By the time they finished, about 52 innocent citizens lost their lives. Over 1,800 others lost their homes. And over 300 houses were burnt.
Since 1994 when the self-acclaimed Home for Peace and Tourism lost its peace, over 7,000 people have perished. Villages in Mangu, Bokkos, and Barkin Ladi LGAs are the flashpoints in these attacks and reprisals among some ethnic groups in the state. The end is not in sight.
As we prayed for a quick solution to the security crisis in the country, more terrorists infiltrated our borders. The Lakurawa group is now in Sokoto and Kebbi states causing enormous havoc. Islamic State West Africa Province and Fulani herdsmen have been competing on how to displace Boko Haram as the deadliest terrorist organization in Nigeria.
The result is that Nigeria has not improved on the Global Terrorism Index. In the latest ranking, released on March 5, 2025, the country emerged sixth most terrorism-affected country in the world. This was against the eighth position it took in 2023 and 2024. Even Somalia and Afghanistan performed better than Nigeria.
Despite the dangers ahead, certain government officials have continued to live in denial. They punch the air and threaten to decimate the criminals each time they carry out their attacks. After the recent Plateau killings, President Tinubu, who is currently in France on a ‘working visit’, condemned the atrocities and directed security agencies to deal with the attackers.
Nigeria’s National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, said government was determined to end these attacks. According to him, about 2,000 terror suspects have been prosecuted in the past 18 months.
Ribadu further asked Nigerians to stop paying ransom to kidnappers and bandits. According to him, people encourage the activities of kidnappers if they keep paying ransom to them. He said only military offensive, not ransom, could free abductees from captivity.
Does Ribadu know the trauma the victims of kidnapping go through on a daily basis? Does he realise the torture and summary execution they face when there is a delay in the payment of ransom?
It is pathetic that the best our government could do to reassure traumatized citizens is to ask them not to pay ransom. It does appear that our security managers are bereft of new ideas on how to tackle sundry criminality in the country. In every part of the world, government has monopoly of the instruments of violence. Anytime any government cedes that power to non-state actors, it loses its legitimacy.
Immediate past President, Muhammadu Buhari, promised to clear Boko Haram from our lexicon. Until he left office in 2023, he could not do it. Tinubu is in the saddle now. He has made similar promises. But from the look of things, he too is primed to fail except he takes immediate drastic measures to curb the menace.
Incidentally, Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State has lamented the resurgence of Boko Haram in his state. He said the recent renewed terrorist attacks and kidnappings in many communities in the state without confrontation indicated that government was losing ground. Rather than face this problem squarely, the Nigerian government continues to chase shadows.
In Rivers State, the imposed Sole Administrator, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (retd), has sacked all the political appointees in the state and illegally appointed administrators for all the 23 local government areas of the state. He has taken some other actions that indicate a plan to totally capture the state for the powers that be. The 2027 elections may be the ultimate target.
Tinubu should have rather declared a state of emergency on insecurity in Nigeria. This will enable him to concentrate fully on the efforts to tackle the scourge. As the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, he should mobilise the military for a total onslaught against the terrorists anywhere they are in Nigeria.
The first thing is to beef up the defence budget. Then, there should be recruitment of more soldiers and procurement of modern sophisticated weapons that will outmatch those of the criminals. Government should also pay the soldiers well and encourage them to take the war to the forests where the terrorists hibernate. With over 230,000 active personnel, the Nigerian military is said to be the fourth most powerful military in Africa.
Service chiefs should up the ante. The onus to rout the terrorists in our midst lies on them. They should concentrate more on intelligence gathering and sharing. They should also begin to mop up illegal arms in circulation in Nigeria.
Perhaps, it is time to consider state police as one of the ways of defeating terrorism. The locals know the hideout of terrorists more than the federal forces.
Credit:The Sun