The Northern Elders Forum (NEF) has called on President Bola Tinubu to urgently declare a national security emergency, warning that escalating violence, kidnappings, and bandit attacks across Nigeria threaten the country’s stability and economic survival.
In a statement issued Wednesday, NEF spokesperson Abubakar Jiddere described the situation as an unprecedented security crisis, with criminal activities spreading across multiple regions and leaving millions vulnerable.
Communities in states including Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna, Niger, Plateau, Benue, Kogi, Kwara, Borno, Oyo, Edo, Enugu, and Imo were cited as facing relentless attacks from armed groups.
The forum noted that kidnapping-for-ransom has evolved into a sophisticated criminal enterprise, driven by weak law enforcement, porous borders, illegal arms proliferation, and poor intelligence coordination.
The NEF warned that insecurity is crippling agriculture, displacing farming communities, collapsing rural economies, disrupting education, and deepening poverty.
“The security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government,” the forum said, quoting Section 14(2)(b) of the Constitution, while questioning why citizens are increasingly left to defend themselves.
The group urged the Federal Government to investigate illegal mining and other resource exploitation linked to insecurity, and recommended stronger intelligence-sharing, intensified operations against kidnapping and banditry networks, prosecution of sponsors, audits of illegal mining, and enhanced protection for schools and farming communities.
Describing the crisis as a national concern, the forum stressed that continued insecurity could erode public confidence in government institutions.
“The time for assurances has passed. The time for measurable action is now,” the statement concluded.Nigeria has battled persistent insecurity for over a decade, with banditry, mass kidnappings, and insurgency-related violence destabilizing the North-West, North-Central, and North-East regions.
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