Communities’ Ordeal
June 13 to 14, 2025, was a doomsday for the inhabitants of the Yelwata community in the Guma Local Government Area of Benue State.
Their Armageddon crept on them grimly, and bloodletting took over the land on a fateful day that did not leave them with any premonition; otherwise, the slain inhabitants in the community would have fled in their multitude, leaving only their buildings, properties, and valuables to be set afire.
The terrorists that invaded their community came with a vicious thought that left the people in a conflagration which billowed through the entire area, leaving between 100 and 200 people dead, with many more injured, burning citizens alive, and wiping out families in a carnage that will squeeze tears from even a sadist.
An eyewitness narrated his ordeal, saying the attack lasted three hours, while the invaders came from different directions. According to him, the first group of assailants bombarded the entire community with a fusillade of gunfire. The second group was busy spraying fuel, lighting the fire, and burning people inside their houses.
It was not only Yelwata that cringed under such savage attacks. Reports were replete in the media that the nearby villages like Yogbo and Daudu had their share of the barbarous pogrom that happened around the same time.
Before this callous attack, the Nigerian nation had been under siege, and reports at present indicate that terrorists are renewing their vigour with zest, while the regime of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is striving to stem the tide of insecurity.
Amnesty International (AI), in its fresh report, highlights that since the coming into power of the President Tinubu-led government, at least 10,2017 people have fallen through the barrels of guns of terrorists in Edo, Katsina, Kebbi, Plateau, Benue, Sokoto, and Zamfara states. The report added that Benue State suffered the highest death toll of about 6,896, followed by 2,630 from Plateau State.
Terrorism, which started in the North-west by the Boko Haram, has tremendously spiralled into almost all the six geo-political zones of the country, including the South-west, which some see as somewhat peaceful, but not entirely immune to attack.
In the South-west, Owo, a community in Ondo State, came under such an invasion some years back. Terrorists gruesomely murdered many innocent worshippers in St. Xavier Catholic Church on June 5, 2022, during a Sunday morning mass as gunmen stormed the church and detonated explosives, opening fire on innocent worshippers.
The attack on Igangan, a community in Oke Ogun, Oyo State, occurred on Saturday, June 5, 2021, when over 50 gunmen on more than 20 motorcycles bombarded the town, murdered not fewer 26 people, setting ablaze the palace of the traditional ruler and a petrol station.
Advent of Banditry
Banditry first occurred in Nigeria in 1901 when brigands assaulted and killed a camel train of 21 merchants who were carrying grains between western Hausa land and the Niger border.
Besides, cases of banditry occurred between the 1970s and 1980s in places like Kano, and old Bendel State, which comprised the present-day Edo and Delta States, but has since metamorphosed into assassinations, kidnapping, and politically-motivated murders.
However, a new wave of terrorism, known as Boko Haram, which Mohammed Yusuf founded, came into being in 2002. Its first coordinated attack was against the Nigerian soldiers in 2009, where about 1000 people lost their lives.
Fast forward from that time, all hell has been let loose on the nation that has groaned under the ferocious invasion of bandits and terrorists.
Alleged Sponsors
Being so troubled, different conspiracy theories have been advanced, with some people attributing the mastermind of the atrocity to Fulani bandits and terrorists. Many publications are also pointing fingers at France and the United States.
US Congressman Scott Perry had raised an alarm that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is funding terrorist groups, including Boko Haram in Nigeria, to the tune of $697 million every year.
Another conspiracy theory has been established that Iran, Iraq and Syria are sponsors of terrorist organisations like Hezbollah, Boko Haram, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria-West Africa (ISIS-WA).
Apart from these allegedly strong backing, observers have always said variously that there are fifth columnists and moles in the Nigerian security apparatus who divulge information to the terrorists and bandits, an indication that the entire Nigerian armed forces may have been highly compromised.
The support and infiltration of Nigeria’s security system have enabled bandits and terrorists to brandish lethal and sophisticated weapons that the Nigerian security agencies cannot parade. They have carried out coordinated operations with precision that left the mouth enthralled, raiding schools, abducting, and asking for ransom to be paid before hostages are set free.
Humanitarian Crises
Upon their killing spree and the wanton destruction of properties, Nigeria has faced a significant level of humanitarian crises. More critical situations, such as food insecurity, health emergencies, and displacement camps, among others, have become the albatrosses weighing down Nigeria.
Regarding food insecurity, the majority of those who face attacks from bandits are farmers who can no longer go to their farms for fear of being murdered.
The situation has resulted in food scarcity. The prices of available food items, such as sweet potatoes, yams, vegetables, beans, and rice, are skyrocketing daily, making them unaffordable for the majority of the population.
Concerning the humanitarian crisis, Nigeria has been forced to create Internally Displaced Persons camps in some locations where killings are rife. As of present, the number of IDPs in the country has grown to over 3.5 million people on the grounds of banditry, terrorism, and farmer-herder clashes.
North-East, especially, has about 1.8 million IDPs, and according to a report by the Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) of the International Organisation of Migration (IOM), Nigeria, the four northeastern states of Borno, Taraba, Adamawa, and Yobe consist of 161 camps and camp-like settings.
Resurgence and Reactions
Faced with this dire state, Nigerians live in a state of uncertainty and vulnerability, with their safety and security not guaranteed by any level of government. Killings by bandits have denied them their right to life.
It’s no longer safe to travel by road and rail over long distances across the country’s six geo-political zones. Doing so will mean putting life at risk. Instances of those who embarked on such journeys, but who never returned, abound.
Now that the nation is witnessing the resurgence of new armed groups, such as Mamuda in Kwara State and Lakurawa in both Sokoto and Kebbi States, this may have aggravated the situation.
The springing up of more deadly groups will mean that Nigeria will be more bloodied and battered than ever, unless the government of the day takes decisive steps to nip banditry and terrorism in the bud.
At various instances, because the government groped for ways to tackle the menace, the insurgents have forced it to pay ransom to them to rescue the abductees.
In contrast to this method of getting captives rescued, Ambassador Joshua Teryila Tarhule, the Registrar of the Institute of Global Peace and Conflict Management (IGPCM), in an exclusive chat with Thediggernews, warns the government not to dialogue with terrorists or show them empathy, but rather empower communities to defend themselves by whatever means possible. “Government should mobilise people for self-defence,” Tarhule says.
Meanwhile, Major Banjo Daniel, a retired infantry officer, public and private security trainer, and analyst, in a separate interview conducted by Thediggernews, views the paucity of funds as an obstacle to winning the battle against insurgency. He states that the “AFN still lacks the funds to equip central units that will stand out in the fight against various forms of criminality.”
However, he expresses confidence in the capability of Nigeria’s armed forces to contain the terrorists and surpass whatever weapons the enemies currently wield: “That notwithstanding, no military is sufficiently equipped, especially with the development and evolution of weapons of war.”
Banjo advises that Nigeria has a standing force that requires the government’s support in performing its constitutional role.
Just like Banjo, Dr Goodluck Uguoji, a retired soldier and Managing Director of Goodfiyet Security Company Limited, advises the Federal Government to motivate Nigerian Armed Forces personnel in a bid to renew their vigour in combating terrorism.
While vouching that Nigerian soldiers possess the required military capabilities to defeat terrorists, Uguoji scores them low in terms of honesty and dedication in the fight against the war.
“They are not fighting insurgency, they are not dedicated, and committed. Many of the generals in the army rely so much on theory rather than practice.
“An army general doesn’t fight wars; they give instructions. No one wants to die for the country; some of them are saying Nigeria is not worth dying for. In our time, we fought wholeheartedly.”
“It is regrettable that some high-ranking officers are members of the terrorists. Many of them are insiders and informants working in collaboration with Boko Haram. You will not believe that many of the senior officers are saboteurs using the situation to enrich themselves.”
“They are not fighting insurgency at all, whereas they have everything to fight. They are heavily compromised, and not honest, and sincere in fighting the war.”
Uguoji hints: “They dismiss experienced soldiers at will, not knowing that some of the soldiers dismissed are the ones joining well-motivated insurgents.
“It is dispiriting that terrorists recruit well-trained soldiers from the Nigerian army, and they become useful to them. They use the training they received against the country.”
At a time in the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari, some influential Nigerians were financing terrorism. Still, the authority did not mete out any punishment to the alleged sponsors whose names the government promised to publish.
The retired CSP Muyideen Abisoye asks, “What did the government do to those backing Boko Haram? Will those supplying arms and ammunition, buying helicopters and other equipment, want the war to end so that they will not repurchase arms? Do the senators and politicians fronting for them want the war to end?
“Those buying a helicopter or aircraft for N1 billion will never want the war to end. Buhari threatened to name those who are directly financing them, but he did not. They know the people sponsoring them, but what did they do to them? How do you pardon those who perpetrated evil without any punishment?
As Nigeria bleeds profusely on account of these senseless killings tearing it to shreds, the government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu needs to brainstorm on the lasting solutions to rid the country of the bloodbath, just like Alhaji Abubakar Bello-Abdullahi, the Spokesperson of Kebbi Development Forum (KDF) posits, urging the government to scale up efforts in addressing the worsening security challenges bedeviling the country.
The most populous black African country will need to battle insurgency by adopting a multifarious approach, involving deploying special troops who are well-trained in modern warfare to engage terrorism in unified formations.
The government needs to establish forest guards to oversee all its unmanned forest reserves, which number up to 1,129, that the bandits have converted into hideouts.
Moreover, analysts argue that local community members, being more familiar with the topography of their areas than anyone else, should be involved in the fight against terrorism. In their opinion, citizens who reside in the community should be drafted into a joint task force to fight alongside the regular army.
Nigeria should seek the collaboration of all local governments and development areas, including community development associations, to wage a comprehensive war against the brigands. It needs to interface with regional associations to find a lasting solution to the menace.
The youth unemployment rate in Nigeria is significant. It has become a fertile ground for terrorist recruitment, as disenchanted and financially strained young people are often targets for extremist ideologies.
According to the World Bank, Nigeria’s youth unemployment rate stood at 5.05% in 2024, while the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported a rate of 6.5% in the second quarter of 2024.
Wary that terrorists may exploit the petrifying situation, Mr Bulama Abiso, the in Borno State while addressing participants at a 0ne-day town hall meeting in Maiduguri, urges the youths, particularly students, to reject extremist ideologies, but instead become advocates of peace, security, and national development.
Aside from engaging the youths, arms control and proliferation of weapons in Nigeria are worrisome. The rate at which arms and ammunition creep into the country is appalling. Its borders are so porous that they allow for the influx of weapons into its territory indiscriminately. The porous border appears to be a veritable source through which weapons get into the hands of terrorists.
According to the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), while Nigeria has 84 official border control posts, it has an overwhelming 1,400 unapproved borders through which arms and ammunition sneak into the country unchallenged. President Tinubu should intensify efforts to block the porous border and prevent arms smuggling into the country, while also motivating customs and immigration officers to resist the temptation of graft from arms smugglers.
Nigeria spent a mouth-watering sum on weapons procurement when Muhammadu Buhari was the President. However, government officials who served under him misappropriated the whopping sum of $1 billion approved for the purchase of military hardware meant to empower it in confronting the terror groups.
Escape Route
Although Buhari’s government procured six A-29 Super Tucanos fighter jets for training, surveillance, and attack purposes, the present government still requires additional funding to acquire more modern weapons to secure the country.
Nigeria cannot afford to keep a ragtag army; instead, it needs to train and re-train its military personnel on modern defence systems.
It needs to keep its personnel up to date on the latest technologies, training them on the use of drones, satellite communications, and radar reconnaissance systems, such as Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), Ground-Penetrating Radar (GPR), and Airborne Radar Systems, to be efficient in combating terrorists who are adequately trained and well-funded.
Nigeria’s security apparatus should work together at this time, when the nation is experiencing a resurgence of banditry. All security agents must maintain a formidable and impenetrable united front, a collaboration that no enemy can penetrate or fracture. Reports were rife in the past of unnecessary rivalry among the armed forces that undermined their offensive against the common enemy.
Security experts and analysts believe that to ultimately pave the way for a more stable and secure future, Nigeria should adopt a multifaceted strategy that addresses the underlying drivers of insecurity.
It should strengthen security infrastructure and foster robust collaboration and coordination among stakeholders to fight banditry and terrorism effectively.
