Security experts and stakeholders insist that President Bola Tinubu’s lackluster approach to dealing with the escalating security challenges which are resulting in mass killings across the country, is giving the non-state actors the impetus to keep unleashing brutal attacks on the helpless citizens
By Our Correspondent
In the recent times, the states of Benue, Plateau, Niger, Borno, Zamfara among others, have remained theatres of bloodletting. In these identified states, never a day passes without scores of citizens being massacred, and hacked to death by criminal elements mostly identified as bandits, Fulani herdsmen, Boko Haram and Lakurawa insurgents, the Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP) and their likes.
The massacre of over 200 citizens in the Yelewata community of Guma Local Government Area (LGA) of Benue State on Friday, June 13, 2025 awakened the near-sleeping conscience of a traumatized country which has been compelled to accept daily mass killings as a new norm.
The Yelewata killings orchestrated an uproar among opinion leaders, forcing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to embark on state visit to Makurdi, the Benue State capital for a condolence.
In quick succession, last June, came the abduction and mindless murder of 12 travelers from Zaria town Kaduna State, in Plateau State. The 12 victims were traveling from the ancient town in the North west region to attend a wedding party in Quan Pan LGA of Plateau State when they were attacked at about 8 pm.
The travelers numbering 32 were conveyed on an 18-seater bus belonging to the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria to the wedding ceremony when their attackers intercepted them and set the bus ablaze. Reports said 12 died instantly due to injuries they sustained, while another victim, the 13th died in the hospital. Killers of these citizens have remained at large.
The killing spree of June also affected no less than 20 soldiers in Niger State. On Tuesday, June 24, 2025, insurgents suspected to be bandits had attacked two military camps in the Mariga LGA of Niger State. The attacks met resistance from the military forces whereupon the 20 soldiers died in active service while the bandits lost an unspecified number of their members.
Confirming the ugly incident, Lieutenant Colonel Apollonia Anele, the acting Director of Army Public Relations said in a statement that the insurgents numbering over 300 from Kwanar Dutse Forest were engaged by troops in collaboration with Air Component of the Nigerian Air Force.
“Sadly, 17 brave and gallant soldiers paid the supreme price during the encounter, while 10 others sustained various degrees of injury”, Anele said.
During his visit to Benue State, Tinubu has been accused of turning the mourning event to a campaign rally of sorts, and failed to visit the Yelewata community where the killing of the 200 citizens took place.
In his address at Makurdi which many have dismissed as lacking empathetic tone, Tinubu had asked the security agencies why they had failed to make any arrest of the perpetrators days after the Yelewata community massacre. “How come no one has been arrested for committing this heinous crime in Yelewata. Inspector General of Police, where are the arrests? The criminals must be arrested immediately “, President Tinubu had stated.
The president further advocated for cattle ranching in the state as he urged the people to live in peace. He further directed the establishment of stakeholders committee to work for peace in the state
But in an emotion-laden address that seemed to counter Tinubu’s weak solutions to the protracted killings in parts of the Northern region and across the country, the paramount ruler of the Tiv nation, the Tor Tiv V, His Royal Majesty James Ayatse, told Tinubu that the politicisation of killings by herdsmen across the country has remained the major reason behind the harvest of deaths being perpetrated by the Fulani herdsmen with impunity. The Tor Tiv further countered Tinubu’s claim that the attacks by terrorist herdsmen were reprisals fueled by communal and herders-farmers crisis.
Tor Tiv: “We do have a grave concern with the misinformation and misrepresentation of the security crisis in Benue State. Mr. President, it is not herders-farmers clashes, it is not communal clashes, it is not reprisal attacks.
“It is misinformation that has led to suggestions such as, remain tolerant, negotiate for peace, learn to live with your neighbours.
“What we are dealing with here in Benue State is calculated, well-planned and full-scale genocidal invasion and land grabbing campaign by herder terrorists and bandits. This has been on for decades and it is worsening every day.
“The second apprehension we have, your Excellency, is politicisation of the crisis “.
In a move that smacked of self-indictment, Nigerians were livid with the announcement by the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) on Tuesday, June 24, 2025 to the effect that it had arrested 53 suspects in connection with the daily killings in the Northern region. What caused Nigerians’ irritation against the purported arrests was that it only came after Tinubu had ordered the arrest of killer herdsmen who killed the Yelewata community 200.
The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, made the announcement when he addressed journalists in Abuja, and disclosed that 26 suspected herdsmen were arrested for the Yelewata killings, 22 others arrested in connection with the Plateau State 12, and yet another five for other attacks in Benue State.
The NPF and the military forces have remained in the eye of the storm for many years due to the kid gloves treatment they accord killer herdsmen across the country. The All Progressives Congress (APC) government under former President Mohammadu Buhari and now under the incumbent President Tinubu has been accused of having soft spot for killer herdsmen who are allegedly protected from being arrested and prosecuted by the police and armed forces. Many had expected that Tinubu government would confront killer herdsmen frontally, but the reluctance of the security agencies in arresting the AK-47 gun wielding terrorist herdsmen, under the Tinubu administration, has made many opinion leaders to conclude that such act emboldens the bestial herders to continue to massacre communities in the Northern region with impunity. Buhari government was accused of using the army, police and other security agencies to protect herdsmen whenever they perpetrated their killings. But Tinubu government appears to be towing the path of his predecessor as the incumbent president blames mass killings on communal clashes and herders-farmers clashes.
Apart from not arresting and prosecuting terrorist herdsmen and bandits, rather giving them tacit and covert protection, allegedly, by the APC government under Tinubu, its lack of adequate and commendable attention to other social and economic issues, are also another way the government is allegedly supporting mass killings in the country.
Recently, two key members of Tinubu government had wittingly or unwittingly blamed the government for allowing insecurity to fester due to its policies which have worsened poverty, hardship and hunger in the country since the advent of this administration. Both Nuhu Ribadu, the National Security Adviser (NSA) and the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Christopher Musa, would not mince words in their admission that the inability of government to address issues of hardship, hunger and joblessness was also at the root of insecurity.
Speaking at the 14th National Security Seminar organized by the Alumni Association of the National Defence College, in Abuja on Monday, June 23, 2025, the two key security officers of the government said that poverty and hunger are security threats which would continue to haunt the citizens if not properly address.
Speaking under a representative, Ribadu said, “Hunger and poverty are not merely social concerns; they are catalyst for insecurity, crime, violence and social disintegration. These issues form a vicious cycle. Poverty leads to insecurity and insecurity, in turn, deepens poverty”.
The CDS, on his part, also speaking through a representative, had added, “Insecurity today is not only defined by weapons, but also by economic deprivation, food insecurity and social dislocation. Hunger and poverty are no longer mere social challenges, they have become national security threats “.
Confirming how government’s body language fuels insecurity, a newspaper analyst, Dr. Austin Maho, said the activities of bandits and herdsmen would not come to an end as long as the government continues to pay lip service to issues of insecurity. “Activities of gun men are not going to stop because there is no new approach to dealing with insecurity.
“If nobody is held responsible, insecurity will continue to fester “, Maho warned.
A newspaper columnist, Majeed Dahiru, also warned that “Any country that cannot protect its citizens is a failed state”. According to Dahiru, the Naira devaluation and removal of subsidy are twin economic issues that would continue to harm the wellbeing of the citizens, which in turn drives the urge for idle citizens to embrace criminal activities.
Dan Ulasi, a chieftain of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), accused Tinubu of playing politics with the killings in the country, especially when he went to Benue State for condolence visit. Ulasi said, “President’s visit was annoying. The fanfare indicates that we do not value life. Security agencies know where the perpetrators are. It took them only 24 hours after the president’s visit to make arrests”.
