Nigeria’s tottering democracy faces survival threat as criminal elements run amok, killing, kidnapping, taking hostage and terrorizing citizens almost unchallenged, while the presidency resorts to negotiation with, and pacification of the non-state actors
By Our Correspondent
Two issues are haunting the presidency at the moment as the bandits and terrorists intensify their deadly attacks on the hapless citizens. Yet President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his cabinet appear unwilling to tackle them so as to convince the nation that the government is not complicit in the terror attacks despite its purported fire brigade measures to arrest the ugly situation.
Number one is, who betrayed Brigadier General Musa Uba; who intercepted his messages to the military and revealed his location in the forest to members of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) who captured and shot him dead?
Issue number two is, who ordered the withdrawal of the military personnel guarding the Government Girls Comprehensive Secondly School, Maga, in Danko-Wasagu Local Government Area (LGA) of Kebbi State before ISWAP struck and abducted 25 students of the school unchallenged?
These two questions have remained the greatest challenge of the Tinubu government in the wake of the renewed terrorists’ attacks that have kept tongues wagging for weeks.
President Bola Tinubu had expressed grief over the death of Brig. Gen. Uba. Tinubu said he was “depressed with the tragic death of our soldiers and officers on active duty”.
Tinubu confirmed that the Brigadier General was killed by a terrorist group while in captivity, days after the senior official was kidnapped by ISWAP militants following an ambush in North eastern Borno State where other four soldiers were killed with Uba.
In a statement issued by his spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, on Tuesday, November 25, 2025, Tinubu confirmed General Uba’s death. He also offered condolences to the military and the families of the other soldiers who were ambushed and killed on Friday, November 21 according to the statement.
Media reports had it that Uba was kidnapped alongside four other soldiers, all were killed after the Boko Haram faction known as ISWAP ambushed his team, which included operatives from the Civilian Joint Task Force, on that Friday night in the Northern Chad region.
Initially, the army denied that Uba had been kidnapped and claimed that he was safe after soldiers successfully repelled the ambush. The military also denied that terrorists killed soldiers.
However, the terror group announced on Monday, November 24 that it had captured and killed Uba. The group also shared photos to prove their criminal activity.
While the military has since kept mum about the incident, President Tinubu confirmed it, stating that he was “depressed with the tragic death of our soldiers and officers on active duty.”
The death of Brigadier General Uba has remained controversial as sources disclosed that he was betrayed by ISWAP terrorists and sympathizers who infiltrated the military. However, calls from well-meaning Nigerians for thorough investigation into his death have fallen on deaf ears.
Responding to the loss of Brigadier-General Uba to terrorists, representative of Bayelsa West Senatorial District, Senator Seriake Dickson, expressed deep concern over the state of the national security during Senate plenary last week.
Senator Dickson described the period as one of the most challenging moments Nigeria has faced, stressing the grave impact of recent violent incidents and the broader implications for the country.
Speaking on the floor of the Senate, Dickson said: “This is one of the most trying periods that our country is facing. Even in battle times, in war times, it’s not easy to lose a Brigadier-General. It’s not easy to lose a Brigadier-General.”
He lamented what he described as a decline in the strength of democratic institutions due to persistent insecurity, saying, “Our democracy right before our eyes is being rubbished. Our country right before our eyes is losing prestige and respect and is endangered by the day.”
On Friday, November 21, 2025, terrorists abducted 315 Nigerian Christians from St Mary’s School in Papiri, Niger State, Nigeria. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack. The victims included 303 students and 12 teachers. Following the attack, all other schools in Niger State, as well as many in nearby states, closed indefinitely. Fifty students later escaped and returned to their families.
The Saint Mary’s School is a Catholic secondary school in Papiri, on the northern edge of Kainji Lake, Nigeria. It is located near a critical road linking the towns of Mokwa and Yelwa. Prior to the kidnapping, the school enrolled 629 students. Nigeria is struggling with an abduction crisis; at least five mass kidnappings had occurred in schools since President Bola Tinubu took office in May 2023. The region of Niger in which the attack occurred was suffering particularly from banditry in the period leading up to the abductions.
The attack occurred amid a security crisis in Nigeria. That week, kidnappers attacked residences in Zamfara State, a Kebbi State school, and a Kwara State church, seizing dozens at each location. Amid the worsening security situation, President Tinubu cancelled his trips to the G20 Summit and the 7th European Union–African Union Summit. The kidnapping coincided with deteriorating Nigeria–United States relations. Earlier, US president Donald Trump had threatened military intervention in Nigeria to protect Christians from religious persecution.
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) counted 303 children and 12 teachers as kidnapped, revising earlier lower estimates. The CAN claimed that 88 had tried to escape, but were intercepted by the kidnappers. This would make the kidnapping one of the largest in Nigerian history. Niger State governor Mohammed Umar Bago contested the estimate, stating that there were far fewer abductees and that they would all be returned.
Initial reports stated that kidnapped students were of both sexes and range in age from 10 to 18. Nigerian police, however, claimed the school only had students aged between 12 and 17.
The Niger State government condemned the kidnapping, blaming the school for operating despite allegedly being told to close due to security threats. The CAN rejected this as blame-shifting and denied ever receiving such a warning.
On the kidnap of the 25 students in Kebbi State, Governor Nasir Idris, has demanded explanations from the military authorities over the withdrawal of troops from Government Girls’ Comprehensive Secondary School, Maga, shortly before dozens of schoolgirls were abducted in Danko-Wasagu Local Government Area.
Governor Idris raised the concern on Thursday, November 20, 2025 while receiving the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Joe Ajaero, who led a solidarity visit to the state.
The governor said he was “deeply troubled” that security personnel pulled out of the school despite prior intelligence alerts provided by the state government.
According to the governor, soldiers reportedly left the school around 3 am while the attackers struck less than 45 minutes later.
“We provided intelligence reports. We alerted them. So, who gave the order for troops to withdraw at that critical hour?” Idris queried, calling for a full military investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident.
The governor also noted that the withdrawal contradicted earlier assurances of enhanced protection for schools in vulnerable border communities frequently targeted by bandits.
Although the 25 students have since been released from captivity, snippets from their abductors indicated that the Federal Government was only able to secure their release after negotiation with the terrorists and alleged ransom payment. In a video released by the terrorists, the schoolgirls were seen seated on the ground under the watch of armed men, and were asked by their captors to state the current date and year-an apparent attempt to verify the recency of the recording.
The terrorists who held the students abducted from Kebbi State mocked the Nigerian government, claiming that state power played no role in the students’ release and insisting that only discussions with important people made the freedom possible.
Several of the terrorists appeared in the footage wearing what looked like soldiers’ uniforms. They were also seen with brand-new motorcycles, assault rifles, and other sophisticated weapons.
At one point, a masked militant questioned the students about their welfare, asking whether they had been molested. The schoolgirls responded in unison: “No.” “Did we leave you hungry? The girls said “No” “Did we protect you?” he asked again. The girls replied, “Yes.”
The terrorist who spoke in Hausa language said further, “We will release you so you can return to your parents peacefully, by God’s grace. Has anyone here spoken to you maliciously or used sexual words toward you?”
The students answered, “No.”
“All of you are in good condition. By God’s grace, we will release you based on the peace agreement and let you go home.”
The terrorists went further, taunting the Nigerian government for its inability to rescue the girls.
“Since you were kidnapped, how many jets did you see come to rescue you?” he asked. The students said they did not know. “You see that the government has found it difficult to rescue you,” he continued.
“We will release you so you can return to your parents peacefully, by God’s grace. All of you are in good condition.”
He added that their release had nothing to do with state efforts. “The government’s power did not secure your release from us,” he said. “We are releasing you because there is an ongoing discussion with some important people involved.” The terrorists added that the release of the school girls was based on negotiation and agreement with the government. This interaction indicated that some ransom may have allegedly been paid to free the abducted students.
The attack in Kebbi sparked a wave of copycat kidnappings in Eruku, Kwara State, and Papiri, Niger State.
A statement from Onanuga had indicated that the security forces had effected the release of the school girls when it said that President Tinubu commended the security operatives for their relentless efforts in securing the release of the victims.
He urged them to redouble efforts to ensure the rescue of students who remain in the hands of terrorists.
The statement read, “President Bola Tinubu has welcomed the release today of the 24 schoolgirls abducted by terrorists in Maga Kebbi last Monday.
“Terrorists struck at the school at dawn on November 17 and abducted the girls, moments after a military detachment left the premises.
“The Kebbi incident triggered some other copycat kidnappings in Eruku in Kwara State and Papiri in Niger State.”
The statement noted that “all 38 kidnapped victims in Eruku were freed on Sunday”, November 23, 2025.
“The same day, the Niger State chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria said 50 of the missing students of the Catholic School in Niger have been found in their parents’ homes,” it said.
“President Tinubu applauded the security agents for all the efforts made to secure freedom for all the victims taken away by the terrorists.”
“I am relieved that all the 24 girls have been accounted for. Now, we must put as a matter of urgency more boots on the ground in the vulnerable areas to avert further incidents of kidnapping. My government will offer all the assistance needed to achieve this,” Tinubu added.
However, the Nigerian Senate was set on fire on Wednesday, November 26 when Senators demanded explanation to the withdrawal of soldiers from Kebbi school before the abduction took place.
Speaking during plenary, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe insisted that governance required confronting uncomfortable truths rather than pacifying the public with excuses.
The debate over rising insecurity took a fiery turn in the Senate as Senator Abaribe (Abia South) berated the President Tinubu administration for failing to hold the military accountable for the withdrawal of troops from the Kebbi school where dozens of students were recently abducted.
Quoting writer George Orwell, he said: “In times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.
“We are being told every day to be patriotic. We are being told here that we shouldn’t say anything against. We are being told here, ‘Oh, we shouldn’t talk about the past, we should focus on the present.’ Yet on this floor, while we should focus on what we are supposed to talk about, we go back and say, ‘Oh, during 2014, Chibok Girls happened; we are now rescuing people; people were not rescued at that time,’” Abaribe said.
He argued that comparisons with the past are being used as a shield to deflect criticism of current failures.
“People in Kebbi were not leaving all the rural areas and coming to urban areas to stay. People in Niger were not being kidnapped. So why do we, anytime we need to talk about the present issues of today, go back to look for excuses for our failures of today?” he asked.
Abaribe said the government must take responsibility and act decisively. Citing the Kebbi incident, he queried why no one had been held accountable.
“We will take only one example; the governor of Kebbi said that somebody ordered troops out, and people were kidnapped. Till today, nobody in Nigeria knows what happened. No questions have been asked, and we are sitting down here as parliament, talking and talking, yet somebody is responsible,” he said.
He added that if he were the Commander-in-Chief, he would demand accountability from the military hierarchy.
“If you don’t get me the head of this person who withdrew the troops to put all these children in jeopardy, then you will make an example of him. That is how a country is run,” he said.
“A country is not run on pacification; a country is run by confronting issues.”
Senator Garba Musa Maidoki (Kebbi South) backed Abaribe’s position, stressing that failure to address the troop withdrawal would embolden further attacks on schools.
Maidoki said he was relieved that the 24 girls abducted from Maga in his constituency had been released unharmed but insisted that the root causes must be confronted.
He echoed the demand for clarity on the controversial troop withdrawal.
“The issue that must take precedence is: who withdrew the soldiers from Maga Primary School? On whose instruction? The world wants to know, Nigerians want to know, we that are particularly affected want to know.”
The senator warned that unless the government confronted these unanswered questions, similar attacks will continue to happen.
“If we don’t get to the bottom of this, this incident will keep repeating itself,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government had come up with what many referred to as fire brigade measures to combat terrorism. These measures have been criticized by many opinion leaders who insisted that Tinubu does not have the political will to face the enemies of the state, but only negotiating with them, paying ransom allegedly in dollars and pacifying them in order not to offend terrorism sponsors because of his second term ambition.
Many have argued how the hostages were released without any confrontation with the terrorists. In their opinion, there are many secrets surrounding insecurity in the country which the government does not want to reveal because of the 2027 presidential election.
In their wild audacity, the terrorists have also threatened that they would go after President Tinubu to kidnap him if that would be possible. In a recent video, the militants who were armed to the teeth, wearing what appeared to be a Nigerian military jacket, boasted about recent kidnappings of schoolchildren in Kebbi and Niger states. The Commander of the terror group issued new threats against Nigeria, declaring that his group will soon begin targeting military officers, state governors, and even President Bola Tinubu for abduction.
According to him, the Nigerian government had failed in its responsibility to protect citizens. He said, “Everyone has woken up. We kidnapped school students in Kebbi State and Niger State. Next time, we will be kidnapping Nigerian military officers and taking them to the forest.”
Pointing to the jacket he wore, he continued: “Look at the clothes I’m wearing, they belong to a soldier. Nigeria, in the days ahead, we will kidnap a governor, we will kidnap the President, and others.”
The terrorist further claimed that Nigerians should place their hopes in divine protection rather than the government, insisting that authorities could not guarantee safety.
“We are not concerned that they have arrested anyone. The government cannot secure you. You people should return to God to protect you, answer your wishes, and wipe the tears from your eyes,” he said.
He ended the recording by greeting his followers on social media, saying, “No one among the big men can wipe your tears. We have woken up. I greet all of you on social media. Have a pleasant day.”
To make good their threat, the terrorists invaded Abuja, Nigeria’s Seat of Power and on the night of Wednesday, November 26, and abducted seven mourners at the border community of Gidan Bijimi, a rural settlement in Bwari Area Council.
Sources said the victims, comprising six girls and a 16- year-old boy, were abducted in a well-coordinated attack that happened about 10pm on Wednesday night.
It was gathered that the victims had travelled to the community that shared boundary with the neighbouring Marke village around Kaduna State for a burial ceremony of a relative before the armed men invaded the area.
The incident has added a new layer to the pattern of raids that increasingly targeted vulnerable FCT border communities.
An eye witness said the bandits that brandished AK-47 rifles, raided two houses in the community and bolted away with the victims, amid sporadic shooting that deterred many residents from confronting the criminals. It was gathered that some residents also abandoned their homes after the incident as precaution.
Incidentally, the abduction happened three days after the FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, launched Operation Sweep and directed police and security agencies to strengthen surveillance, curb crime and ensure residents’ safety citywide.
The hoodlums also unleashed their criminality a day after the FCT Police Commissioner Miller Dantawaye had assured residents of the readiness of the police to secure the border communities as well as all the major places in the nation’s capital.
In the meantime, former President Olusegun Obasanjo added his voice to the killings across the country, insisting that it must not be trivialised or reduced to ethnic or religious comparison. Obasanjo said that Nigerians have the right to seek help from the international community if the government failed in its constitutional duty to protect them.
The former President stated this during the 2025 Plateau Unity Christmas Carol, held at the Ten Commandments Altar in Jos, where he attended as a special guest on the invitation of the Plateau State Government.
Speaking at the event, Obasanjo said, “If our government cannot do it, we have the right to call on the international community to do for us what our government cannot do, and we should have no apology for that”.
According to him, with modern technology, including satellites and drones, criminals should not have the freedom to commit crimes and disappear.
“Why are we apologising? Why are we negotiating? The government must stop the killing of Nigerians. We are being killed, we are tired, and we want the killing to stop,” he added.
The former president also expressed concern over the rising wave of insecurity across the country.
He said that, despite being its first responsibility, the Federal Government seems incapable of protecting Nigeria.
He recalled the abduction of the Chibok schoolgirls, stressing that insecurity has deteriorated further rather than improved.
“Since the kidnapping of the Chibok girls, it has continued to go from bad to worse. The first responsibility of any government is the protection and security of its citizens, but our government seems to be incapable of protecting us,” he said.
Obasanjo, however, insisted that killings across the country must not be trivialised or reduced to ethnic or religious comparisons.
“We Nigerians are being killed, no matter the religion you belong to, no matter where you come from. And for anybody saying that when we are being killed, another group is also being killed, I believe that is nonsensical,” the former president stated.
