The unending insecurity in the country over the last 20 years seems to have finally attracted the attention of a coalition of concerned Nigerians demanding urgent and drastic steps to end it.
The coalition drawn from across the six geopolitical zones bemoaned the death of over 10,000 Nigerians since 2009, when the insecurity started and seems not to be ending, despite the billions of naira spent annually on defence and security.
The coalition warned that the country was on the brink of security collapse, urging President Bola Tinubu to immediately establish a Presidential Taskforce on National Security to halt the worsening violence.
In a joint statement signed on Sunday by Osita Chidoka, Frank Nweke Jnr, Kadaria Ahmed, Tonye Cole, Jamila Bio Ibrahim, Sergius Ogun, Ismaeel Ahmed, Sam Amadi, Opeyemi Adamolekun, and others, the group decried the unending killing.
The cited Amnesty International figures put the number of violent deaths in Nigeria at 10,217 over the past two years, while noting that the level of bloodshed rivals civilian casualties in global conflict zones such as Ukraine, Gaza, and Syria.
The statement highlighted widespread devastation: 6,896 people killed and over 450,000 displaced in Benue State, 2,630 killed in Plateau, and more than 600 villages sacked in Zamfara. It also cited the resurgence of Boko Haram in the Northeastand persistent violence by armed groups in the Southeast.
The statement read in part, “The Nigerian state has surrendered its monopoly on the legitimate use of force. What began as local disputes has morphed into sectarian wars and criminal fiefdoms, fuelled by weapons, poverty, and impunity.”
The group called for a time-bound, independent, and results-driven Presidential Taskforce with extraordinary powers to coordinate security agencies, disarm armed groups, reintegrate displaced persons, and issue quarterly public reports to restore confidence.
The coalition cautioned against ethnic profiling and scapegoating, stressing that attackers come from various communities across the country. “This is a Nigerian problem with Nigerian faces. Justice must be blind to identity.”
Drawing from global examples in Rwanda, Colombia, and Northern Ireland, the group urged political, traditional, and religious figures to confront hard truths and build consensus for peace.
The group warned, “Nigeria stands on a knife-edge.”History will not judge the bandits. It will judge us who had the power to protect and either rose to this moment or shrank from it.”
