Nigerians woke up on Sunday to a weekend stained by violence. Over two unnerving days – Friday and Saturday – bloodshed by Islamists, bandits, and kidnappers scarred the fragile national landscape.
A major newspaper estimated 102 deaths resulting from attacks and counterattacks across four states.
President Bola Tinubu and the military high command must implement fresh solutions to curb these violent non-state actors and prevent further atrocities.
Friday saw bloody outbreaks in Borno, Katsina, and Sokoto states. The following day, kidnappers targeted Okpella, Edo State, slaughtering eight officers of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps and a civilian.
It is deeply troubling that state security personnel are being lost in such a manner. The NSCDC must not relent until the perpetrators are brought to justice.
Borno bore the brunt of another violent attack on Friday, as Boko Haram insurgents terrorised Darajamal village near Bama. The bloodthirsty attackers killed 63 people, including five soldiers, and burned many houses.
The village head told international media that many residents remain missing, with some fleeing into the bush to escape.
It is a desperate moment for the survivors. The state government reassured them of their safety when they were cajoled to return home from the internally displaced persons’ camps two months ago. Now, they are caught between Boko Haram’s attacks and the government’s precipitate desire to resettle the villagers.
As such, the Borno government should review its policy to make the displaced return home and close the IDP camps.
Apart from Borno, bandits wreaked havoc in Magajin Wando village, Dandume LGA of Katsina State, between 11 pm and 12 am on Friday. Seven people were killed. The state government said its Community Watch Corps officers initially repelled the bandits.
As the officers were taking the injured to the hospital, the bandits retaliated during an ambush, killing seven people and burning the corps’ vehicle.
There have been repeated attacks in the North-West in the past few years. Banditry also spread to Sokoto State the same day. This time, it was the bandits who were badly hit in Shagari and Bimasa villages in the Tureta LGA.
The residents mobilised against the intruders and killed 15 of them. The security forces should quickly deploy troops to the communities to prevent retaliatory attacks by the bandits.
Altogether, these events claimed over 100 lives, a staggering and unacceptable toll.
In Edo State, kidnappers captured a Chinese expatriate working at a cement company in Okpella. On Friday night, abductors seized 18 passengers on the Benin-Akure Highway; however, the Edo Police Command rescued 16 of them on Saturday.
Nigeria has been under siege since 2009, when Boko Haram launched its violent campaign to create a caliphate in the Northeast.
The Islamist sect has splintered into deadlier factions such as Ansaru, ISWAP (linked to ISIS), and Lakurawa.
Together, these groups have massacred more than 100,000 citizens, according to Vice-President Kashim Shettima, a former Borno governor. They have also kidnapped schoolgirls for ransom and forced marriage in Chibok (Borno) and Dapchi (Yobe).
The military has launched many successful operations, killing scores of insurgents. Yet, these efforts appear hampered by a lack of a concise overall strategy.
In response, Nigeria’s defence budget has ballooned. In 2025, the Federal Government allocated N6.57 trillion to defence, 8.97 per cent of the total budget and the highest ever in the country’s history. Personnel costs account for N4.07 trillion, capital expenditure N1.50 trillion, and overheads N642.55 billion.
The government must stop downplaying the scale and reach of Islamist and bandit atrocities.
Using intelligence, advanced technology, and modern weaponry, it must decisively crush these criminals.
The police officers illegally assigned to VIPs should be withdrawn and redeployed to vulnerable communities where insurgents and bandits have established networks.
The Tinubu administration must win the war against terror.
The Punch
