The Toxic Intersection of Politics and Insecurity in Nigeria -By Nkwor Uche Wisdom

In Nigeria as a whole, the intersection of politics and insecurity has led to a massive clash in some societies like Zamfara State (Northwest), Oyo State (Southwest), and Borno State (Northeast). The government’s focused more on ballot box competition rather than pressing for security, they no longer care about the children in their classrooms; instead, they are more concerned with winning the forthcoming election. So, they focus more on politics than the people they are governing, the citizens, most especially the young one’s, the call “leaders of tomorrow”.

“Leaders of tomorrow,” they claimed to have called the children that have been held in captivity in the deep forest with hopelessness. We have the military, the air force, but the government uses these forces to push their popularity to enable them winning the election. Example of this can be cited in the occurred 2019 general election in Rivers State, Nigeria, where state security and military force were deployed in a manna that heavily interfered with the civilian political process. They even equipped ordinary civilians with ammunition. Example: the governor mining cartel fueling insecurity in Nigeria.

The governors and the mining cartels are responsible. The areas where they do not want elections to hold because they will lose, they allow the Fulani’s to come in those areas with their cartel to distract them. After which they have win the election, they neglect the voice for help and rule over the freedom voice. After winning the election, they stripped the civilians off the uniform that which was given to them just in the process to win the ballot box. These civilians, having known the way the politicians operate, moved by anger and the awareness of being used, they venture into banditry with which weapons that is already in their possession, and then they start terrorizing the states.

Some of the states that are having kidnapping issues as of recent are: Zamfara State, Oyo State, and Borno State.

• Zamfara State: Armed men raided an off-campus hostel in the Kaura Namoda area, and they kidnapped seven students from the Federal Polytechnic.
• Oyo State: In a rare attack in Nigeria’s southwest, gunmen raided three schools in the Oriire Local Government Area, abducting 39 students and 7 teachers (some were children as young as 2 years old).
• Borno State: Forty-two students were abducted in a mass kidnapping in this insurgency-hit northeastern region.

State like Kaduna, Katsina, Niger, and Zamfara have been recorded for mass kidnapping affairs. Insecurity is everywhere, from check point to school premises, and public gathering. The insecurity is not attributed to some set of people. It could be me and it can also be you. Even among the Fulani’s, the Fulani people of the northern region and the Middle Belt. People assumed bandits are always likely from there because of their search for vast grazing lands, pastoralist lifestyle, and the historical outcome of the 1804 Sokoto Jihad.

The 1804 Sokoto Jihad was a major religious, social, and political revolution in Northern Nigeria led by the Fulani Islamic scholar and reformer Sheikh Usman dan Fodio. It resulted in the overthrow of the centuries-old Hausa kingdoms and the establishment of the Sokoto Caliphate, which became one of the largest and most powerful empires in 19th-century Africa. All of this has led to the cost of rural areas in that environment. When people hear of bandits, all they think about is, “It must be the Fulani people again.” Bandits are not attributed to one state alone; even the Fulanis are being targeted for kidnapping. There is concurrent news about Banditry every day, but some are being covered, some repeatedly stuck in the old happened one’s, making coverage for the concurrent one’s.

These bandits are not just random thug; they are highly empowered with heavy weapons, and they hide deep in the forests. They operate in a way no one would ever imagine they are fast, violent raids on motorbikes, hitting villages before anyone can react. The fact that guns are their most recognized feature means illegal guns are flooding the region, making future disarmament programs incredibly difficult.

Their most targeted set of people are adult men, women/girls, and the youth.

• Adult Men: They face the highest risk of being killed or physically hurt, which takes away family providers and completely stops local farming.
• Women and Girls: They are heavily targeted for sexual violence, creating deep trauma that people are often too afraid or ashamed to report.
• The Youth: One out of three people in these areas’ reports being attacked every single week.

Nigeria is dealing with a multi-front security nightmare, but the threats look different depending on where you stand. In the northeast and North-Central, traditional terrorist groups like Boko Haram and ISWAP (Islamic State West African Province) are still the main danger. In the northwest and North-Central, it is all about armed bandits, mass kidnappings, and bloody village clashes. While in the Southeast and South-South, criminals focus on destroying public infrastructure, alongside separatist groups, and violent cults. The Southwest is dealing with a scary rise in commercial kidnappings and highway crimes. These terrorists gain more power every single day because of ignorance.

This is not just a complaint about insecurity; it is a loud and urgent demand for accountability. The “leaders of tomorrow” cannot build a future for Nigeria if they are currently trapped in forest camps under the threat of violence. The government needs to look past the next election cycle. Political leaders must deploy the nation’s full security architecture, fix community safety programs, and show the moral courage needed to bring these children home. Protecting our classrooms must matter more than winning the next ballot. A nation can never be built on fear and threat, human is being striped off their dignity, leaving in pain and agony.