Nigeria’s Security Crisis: Time to Face Reality and Stop Playing into the Hands of Destabilizers

Nigeria cannot claim to be a functioning state as long as individuals who openly sympathize with bandits, act as their spokespersons, or engage in questionable “dialogue” with them walk free. People like Sheikh Ahmad Gumi and others who consistently justify or downplay banditry should, at the very least, be in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) for thorough investigation. Freedom of speech has limits when it consistently aligns with the interests of armed criminals terrorizing citizens. Let us be clear: Islam, like Christianity or any other religion, does not teach terrorism. Yet it is an undeniable fact that the overwhelming majority of bandits and terrorists currently operating in northern Nigeria identify as Muslims and often justify their actions with twisted religious rhetoric. Denying this reality helps no one. Every religion has produced extremists at different points in history; pretending otherwise is intellectual dishonesty. What matters is confronting the specific ideology that motivates these particular criminals and cutting off the oxygen—money, weapons, and propaganda—that keeps them alive. International organizations and powerful countries, especially the United States, Russia, Germany, France, and Israel—the very nations that manufacture virtually all the sophisticated weapons turning up in the hands of bush bandits—must do more than issue statements. They have the intelligence networks to trace every rifle, RPG, and bullet entering Nigeria’s forests. They know, or can easily find out, who is funding these groups and through which banks and shell companies the money flows. Cutting off the financial pipelines and arms supply is the fastest way to cripple the insurgency. Nigerian Christians must also stop framing banditry as exclusively anti-Christian persecution. Bandits kill, kidnap, and extort everyone—Muslims, Christians, traditionalists, men, women, and children. Mosques have been attacked, imams murdered, and entire Muslim villages wiped out. This is not a religious war being fought by the bandits; it is economic terrorism, political destabilization, and organized crime on a massive scale, with religion used only as a convenient recruitment and justification tool. Anyone with a functioning brain can see that these sustained, well-armed operations are not the work of ordinary Fulani herdsmen who woke up one day and decided to become warlords. They are sponsored. The weapons are too sophisticated, the coordination too consistent, and the timing of major attacks too politically convenient for this to be organic. Persistent insecurity creates the perfect environment for whispers of military coups, economic collapse, or violent revolutions—all outcomes that certain external and internal actors would happily exploit. And yes, groups like the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and their leadership have contributed to the toxic atmosphere. While their grievances may be legitimate to some, the deliberate stoking of division, celebration of chaos in other parts of the country, and occasional resort to violence only play into the hands of those who want Nigeria ungovernable. Nnamdi Kanu meets the legal definition of a terrorist under Nigerian law; the delay in concluding his trial is purely political, not evidentiary. To every educated Nigerian arguing online, sharing half-truths, and deepening the divide: stop. You are being manipulated. The same forces arming bandits in the north are the ones amplifying tribal and religious hatred in the south through sponsored influencers, fake news, and polarized narratives. They want us at each other’s throats so that when the country finally fractures, they can swoop in as “saviors” with solutions that serve their own interests. America is welcome to help. Russia is welcome to help. France, Germany, Israel—everyone is welcome. But the help we need is not more troops or lectures on human rights. Start by tracking your own weapons and money. Tell us who is buying anti-aircraft guns and shipping them to criminals in Nigerian forests. Block the accounts that pay them. That is where real assistance begins. Above tribe, religion, or political affiliation, be a decent human being first. Speak the truth with evidence, or stay silent instead of adding to the poison. Our parents raised us better than to become unwitting tools of those who want this country destroyed. Nigeria is bleeding. It is time to stop the bleeding with honesty, unity, and decisive action—not more propaganda, denial, or division.