BY
ENENE EJEMBI.
Nigeria continues to face a variety of concurrent security challenges, each multifaceted and posing serious threats to national stability. For the past two decades, these challenges have kept the country in a state of crisis, resulting in thousands of deaths, the displacement of millions, and the destruction of infrastructure and livelihoods. The Northwest is among the most affected zones, with rural areas bearing the brunt of insecurity.
Rich in agriculture and endowed with valuable resources, the region has long struggled with banditry and related threats, some dating back to the pre-colonial period. The discovery of gold has further complicated the security situation, attracting armed groups competing for control. According to ACLED, 13,485 deaths were attributed to banditry between 2010 and May 2023, though figures may be higher based on local and media reports. Thousands more have been displaced, with livelihoods destroyed. Weak law enforcement and corruption have enabled these groups to thrive, often armed with sophisticated weapons smuggled across porous borders.
Banditry remains the dominant form of conflict in the region, reflecting widespread criminal activity and lawlessness. These groups do not pursue religious or political ideologies. What began as cattle rustling and localized resource disputes has evolved into organized criminal networks that increasingly adopt terrorist tactics, blurring the line between crime and insurgency. Their central aim is the accumulation of economic resources through looting, kidnapping for ransom, illegal gold mining, cattle rustling, and other criminal activities.
The current nature of banditry, particularly in Northwest and Northcentral Nigeria, has taken on political, religious, and cultural dimensions, with new groups emerging rapidly. Lakurawa, for example, evolved from an ordinary bandit group into a sophisticated organization and was designated a terrorist group by the Nigerian government in January 2025.
The drivers of banditry in the Northwest stem from communal tensions, governance failures, security weaknesses, and regional dynamics. Farmer–herder clashes have evolved into a complex violent ecosystem. Security forces remain constrained by capacity gaps and weak coordination. The breakdown of governance has further fueled insecurity, as many rural local government areas (LGAs) have minimal or no state presence, allowing bandits to establish parallel governance systems. Cross-border dynamics exacerbate the situation, with porous borders with Niger enabling the inflow of weapons and creating links to Sahel-based terrorist groups.
Kidnapping has also become one of Nigeria’s most pressing security challenges. According to a Nextier report, 3,141 victims of kidnapping were recorded in 1,274 incidents in 2025 alone higher than the annual totals of the previous five years (2021–2025). Mass abductions expanded beyond the Northwest into states such as Kwara in the Northcentral zone, though the Northwest remains the primary hub. Bandits are the main perpetrators, motivated by ransom collection, recruitment, forced marriages, and, in some cases, sexual exploitation.
Emerging trends include the fragmentation of armed groups, making them harder to dismantle or negotiate with. Splinter factions often act autonomously while maintaining ties to larger networks. Violence in the Northwest is also spilling into the Northcentral and Southwest zones, with armed groups appearing in Kwara and Niger State. The rise of Lakurawa illustrates how fragmentation can lead to new, more sophisticated operations.
Civilian targets such as schools, markets, highways, and transport hubs are frequently attacked, crippling local economies. Boarding schools have become soft targets for mass abductions due to weak security, exploited as pools for recruiting boys and forcing girls into early marriages. Markets and transport hubs are equally vulnerable, as seen in the Kaduna–Abuja train attack of 2022. Weak or absent government presence in rural areas has fueled community vigilantism. Distrust of state security agencies has led communities to form self-defense groups.
Policy responses have been introduced, but some raise concerns. U.S. military operations and joint Nigeria–U.S. strikes targeting ISIS in Sokoto State, alongside Nigeria’s designation as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC), may push groups to decentralize, making them harder to track, or provoke retaliatory attacks against civilians. They may also foster dependency, with Nigerian forces delaying long-term capacity building and relying heavily on U.S. intervention.
Political conflicts in Kano influence not only the Northwest but also national politics. Persistent factionalism undermines party cohesion and risks violent clashes as the 2027 elections approach.
Kidnapping-for-ransom and banditry remain grave threats to peace and stability. Effective policy responses must prioritize strengthening community policing, enhancing intelligence-gathering, deploying rapid response units along highways and rural corridors, and building trust between communities and state security agencies. Empowering traditional rulers, creating dialogue platforms, and integrating community-based early warning systems are essential.
Nigeria stands at a consequential crossroads. The country is battling multiple fronts of insecurity across both the North and South. These pressures have tested state capacity, public trust, and social cohesion. Yet they highlight a central truth: insecurity and economic fragility are mutually reinforcing, and neither can be sustainably addressed in isolation. Therefore, recommendations to this challenge include governance reforms to address gaps in the mining sector exploited by armed groups; improved collaboration between the Office of the National Security Adviser and border security agencies to strengthen border control; and enhanced cooperation between the Department of State Services (DSS) and telecommunications providers to improve surveillance in high-risk areas.
ENENE EJEMBI is a corps member serving with the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution (IPCR), Abuja.
Middle-Belt Times 