Nation
Insecurity: Terrorists, bandits shift base to South with spike in attacks
Last week’s tragedy in Uromi, Edo State, where 16 northerners, who claimed to be hunters, were killed, is the cumulative effect of rising insecurity occasioned by attacks by bandits and herdsmen across Southern states, leading to many communities abandoning the homesteads and famers unable to venture outside for fear of being kinda or killed.
This spike in attacks appears to be correlated with the growing success being achieved by the military in the Northern parts, where the activities of terrorists and bandits started and gained notoriety for several years, especially during last administration of Buhari.
However, renewed military onslaught has dispersed their concentration, with several of them shifting base to the South where they perpetrate heinous crimes, such as kidnapping for ransom, and other violent activities. Many communities in Plateau, Benue, Kogi, Ebonyi, Enugu, Ondo etc now live with the daily experience of insecurity, with little help from government.
In late December, Gov. Seyi Makinde of Oyo raised alarm over the mass movement of armed northerners to the Southwest and occupying their forests. This led to several security meetings by the different states and collectively on hit to respond.
Nigeria’s security ecosystem seems to have taken a nosedive for the worst in recent weeks, with renewed onslaughts by insurgents and bandits across the country.
Just when Nigerians were about celebrating that the security agencies were winning the war against insurgency, especially with the frequent bombardment of terrorist hideouts by the military, the last few weeks have poisoned the optimism.
The Uromi incident is apparently being justified by the failure of security agents to stem these attacks, and the growing call by affected people to resort to self help.
At the weekend, The Middle Belt Forum (MBF) released a statement about threats by some northern groups to attack southerners in the north, calling it “inflammatory and unguarded statements from certain disgruntled elements claiming to defend the interests of the Arewa North following the unacceptable extrajudicial killing of 16 citizens in Uromi, Edo State, last week.
“While the MBF strongly condemns the unlawful killing of any Nigerian citizen, including the Uromi killings, we categorically reject any attempt to use this tragic incident as a pretext to unleash violence against Southerners residing in Northern Nigeria,” the release signed by Binniyat Luka, spokesman, Middle Belt Forum, said.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the Middle Belt comprises Southern Kaduna, Southern Kebbi, Southern Bauchi, Adamawa, Gombe, and Taraba states, as well as the entire North Central geopolitical zone, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
“Although we acknowledge recent improvements in security within most Middle Belt areas, thousands of our people remain in captivity of bandits, and vast portions of our land are still controlled by violent outlaws—primarily Fulani militants, it concluded.
Resurgence
In what looks like atavistic return of terrorism in Borno State, at least, six soldiers were killed while school and military vehicles were set ablaze when a suspected Boko Haram terrorist group attacked the Nigerian military in Damboa Local Government Area of northeastern Borno State recently.
The attack, which was well choreographed and clinically coordinated, has been tagged a vengeance mission by the terrorist group in an attempt to instill fear in the people and reclaim lost grounds in the Northeast.
“Initial report indicates about 40 farmers have been killed while the whereabouts of many, who escaped the attack, are being traced for reunion with their families,” Usman Tar, Borno State commissioner for information, said after suspected fighters from the Boko Haram group and ISIL (ISIS) affiliate in West Africa Province (ISWAP) attacked farmers in Dumba on the shores of Lake Chad.
“As someone from one of the most affected states, I believe the government must adopt a multi-pronged approach to address insecurity,” Godwin Ayebe, convener, Consumer Assembly in Kogi State, said recently.
“At the federal level, there is a need for increased funding and equipping of security agencies with modern technology, such as drones, surveillance systems, and advanced weaponry. At the state level, governors must take ownership of security by strengthening local vigilante groups, fostering community policing initiatives, and investing in socio-economic programs that address poverty and unemployment, which often fuel insecurity,” Ayebe said.
As it stands, Nigeria is facing multiple security challenges in different regions. While the country is battling a Boko Haram insurgency in the northeast, banditry and kidnapping are high in the northwest.
In the Southeast, the challenge has been with criminal gangs kidnapping for ransom, some of who are suspected to be bandits and herdsmen. For instance, Methodist Bishop said that those who kidnapped were people of northern extraction, which have been confirmed by several others.
Sad Statistics
According to Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics, Nigeria recorded about 615,000 deaths from insecurity between May 2023 and April 2024. The banditry-ravaged northwest saw the highest figure with 206,030.
Dr. Familoni Adetunji a criminologist noted that “the current insecurity is caused by politicians. They are not sincere with the fight against insecurity, while the military also has a share of the blame. The huge money involved in the fight against insurgency will no longer be there if the insurgency and banditry end today.”
“Politicians are not willing to tackle it because of reelection backlash from those benefiting from the system of continued terror. We have yahoo politicians, who foster, albeit surreptitiously, this insecurity, but the government lacks political will. The Uromi case is clearly an act of terror thwarted by the vigilante, we can all see the outcome now.”
The contentious killings of what officialdom called 16 hunters of northern extraction in Uromi but which natives swore were terrorists and kidnappers, who had been wrecking havoc in Uromi and environs, highlights the complexity of fighting insecurity given the geopolitical fault lines, which hamstrung politicians from taking decisive actions.
For months, Uromi has been under siege by bandits, and many Nigerians find it hard to believe the far -fetched official narrative of northern hunters coming to hunt for game in southern Nigeria. They equally find it difficult to explain the rationale behind Edo state governor preempting investigations and rushing to Kano to placate the governor, when in spite of killings of Southerners in cold blood in the north, no northern governor had ever visited the South to do the necessary propitiatory placation.
In the last two months, Ondo state has been under siege. Farmers are allegedly in state of fear, as many have been reportedly hacked to death by herders, women raped and many also kidnapped for ransom amidst large scale destruction of farmlands from Ikole Ekiti to Akure from Owo to Ondo town.
Things came to a head when on March 27, 2025, the National Association of Nigerian Students, Ondo State Chapter, staged a protest against the rising insecurity in the state and what they described as the “failed promises” of the state government.
The students, carrying placards with inscriptions, such as “Fulfil Your Promises, Mr. Governor” and “Enough is Enough”, gathered at the A-Division area in Akure, blocking major roads leading to Oja-Oba, Alagbaka, and NEPA Market for about five hours.
Speaking during the protest, the Ondo State NANS JCC Chairman, Comrade Joshua Oluwarotimi, lamented the increasing cases of student abductions and the perceived silence of the authorities.
Similarly, the NANS South West Deputy Coordinator, Comrade Ademola Adegoke, called on the government to take immediate action to improve security, emphasizing the need for a safe environment for students to thrive.
In Enugu, Ebonyi, and Imo, Delta and Kogi states, the story is the same. Many farmlands have been destroyed and citizens abducted for ransom.
Last week, the lull in Plateau was broken after series of peace meetings between the Fulani and natives. In the last one month, more than 79 people have been reportedly killed in local communities in Benue state by herders.
National Threat
In its latest report on the intractable farmer-herder conflict in Nigeria, titled: “A Threat to National Stability,” SBM Intelligence, an Africa-based geographical research and strategic communications consulting firm, noted that the conflict in the Middle Belt has morphed into bigger challenge, moving South while maintaining its grip on the country’s food basket.
The report put the human cost of the conflict to a mind-boggling of over 2.2 million displaced nationwide, with 300,000 in Benue’s overcrowded camps alone.
It sounded a dire warning categorically that, “Nigeria’s food security hangs in the balance as the Middle Belt’s agricultural output plummets, exacerbating inflation.”
The report showed how Nigeria’s pastoral conflict has evolved from localized grazing disputes into one of the country’s most pressing security challenges, now affecting multiple regions and threatening national stability.
It stated that the violence, primarily between Fulani herders and farming communities, has spread southward from its Middle Belt epicentre, intensifying in states like Edo, Ebonyi, and Ondo while maintaining its devastating grip on Benue, Nasarawa and Plateau.
“The crisis stems from complex interlocking factors. Climate change and desertification in northern regions have diminished grazing lands, forcing pastoralists south into Nigeria’s agricultural heartland. This migration, coupled with population growth and uneven development, has fuelled competition for dwindling resources,” SBM pointed out.
It said that the conflict’s nature has transformed dramatically since 2010, with traditional dispute-resolution mechanisms collapsing as sophisticated weaponry flooded the region.
“What were once minor clashes mediated with sticks now involve AK-47s and military-grade firearms, enabling systematic violence, including crop destruction and land appropriation.
Disturbingly, it maintained that complicity within affected communities – including alleged intelligence-sharing with attackers for financial gain – has complicated counter-violence efforts.
It observed that government responses have proven inadequate, pointing out that the National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP) remains poorly implemented, while anti-open grazing laws face enforcement challenges and political resistance.
The report also posited that security operations provide temporary relief but fail to address root causes, adding that the conflict’s ethnic and religious politicisation, including accusations of “Fulanization”, has further entrenched divisions.
The SBM Intelligence recommended that a sustainable resolution demands a multifaceted approach, suggesting urgent land reforms to clarify grazing rights, robust arms control measures, climate adaptation programmes, and depoliticized dialogue.
With attacks spreading southward and displacement figures rising yearly, it warned that Nigeria faces a narrowing window to prevent this pastoral conflict from becoming an irreversible national catastrophe.
“The time for coordinated action is now – further delay only deepens the crisis, threatening Nigeria’s unity, food security, and democratic fabric,” it concluded.