BY RITA OYIBOKA
It was a Sunday that should have been marked by palms, prayers, and quiet reflection. Instead, it became another entry in Nigeria’s long ledger of grief.
In the fading light of March 29, 2026, Palm Sunday, gunshots tore through the Angwan Rukuba community in Jos, Plateau State. Witnesses would later describe it as sudden, coordinated, and merciless. Armed bandits stormed the area, firing indiscriminately into homes and fleeing residents. In minutes, the calm of the evening gave way to chaos. By the time the dust settled, at least 28 people lay dead.
But numbers, as always, fail to capture the weight of tragedy.
At the centre of national outrage was a mother, unnamed to many, but unforgettable to all, cradling her son, Promise, in her arms. In a viral video that has since circulated across the country, she clutched his lifeless body tightly against her chest, her voice breaking under the weight of disbelief and anguish. She cried, pleaded, and prayed, begging him not to die, calling on God, invoking justice, and asking that the blood of her son and others slain would not be in vain.
That image, raw, unfiltered, and deeply human, has come to symbolise a nation’s pain.
Yet, as emotionally devastating as that moment was, it is not an isolated incident. It is part of a broader, more disturbing pattern that continues to define Nigeria’s security landscape.
A Country Under Siege
Nigeria’s insecurity crisis is no longer episodic. It has evolved into a systemic, nationwide phenomenon. This is not conjecture; it is data-backed reality.
Former Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky E.O. Irabor (Rtd), captured this stark reality in his keynote lecture titled “Insecurity: The Bane of Nigeria’s Unity and Progress” delivered at the 2026 Maris Annual Public Service Lecture in Asaba.
His words were direct, almost surgical: “Nigeria’s insecurity incidents are no longer random. They have become endemic and geographically pervasive.”
From the insurgency-ravaged North-East, where Boko Haram and ISWAP continue to destabilise communities, to the bandit-dominated North-West, where highways and farmlands have become theatres of abduction, the crisis cuts across every region. In the South-East, separatist agitation has eroded state authority, while the South-South continues to grapple with oil theft, pipeline vandalism, and cult violence.
Across the country, kidnapping for ransom has quietly transformed into a thriving industry.
And the numbers are staggering.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics’ Crime Experience and Security Perception Survey (CESPS) 2024, the scale of insecurity in Nigeria within the 12 months between May 2023 and April 2024 was both alarming and unprecedented.
During this time, more than 600,000 Nigerians lost their lives to insecurity-related incidents, while approximately 2.2 million people were abducted across the country. The financial toll was equally staggering, with over ₦2 trillion paid in ransom to kidnappers.
On average, each kidnapping incident attracted a ransom payment of about ₦2.67 million, highlighting not only the desperation of affected families but also the commercialisation of abduction as a thriving enterprise.
Irabor’s reflection on these figures cuts deeper than the statistics themselves: “Each of those numbers is not just a statistic on paper but a traumatic story of fellow citizens.”
The woman in Jos is one of those stories.
One of the most striking parts of the lecture was the narration of the retired General’s experience as a commander of operations in the Northeast.
According to him, “I often walked through hospital wards, looking into the eyes of young soldiers who lost limbs or carried the invisible weight of combat trauma. One of the most touching experiences of those walks was that most of these men and women did not ask for medals, but when you look into their eyes, you could hear them ask loudly yet without words: Is our sacrifice worth it? Do our scars make the country safer for our families back home?
“The scars”, both physical and psychological, and many times, the ultimate price paid by these young soldiers and other Nigerians affected by insecurity, is part of the cost for a unity that is still under construction. The scars we carry are not just marks of pain; they are testimonies of resilience. They remind us that the unity of Nigeria is a living, breathing entity that requires constant protection and nourishment. Nevertheless, like President Obasanjo said, ‘behind every statistic is a story,” he said.
Human Cost Behind The Data
Behind every statistic is a face. A family. A future cut short.
The Jos attack is a textbook case of how insecurity manifests at the grassroots. Eyewitnesses reported that gunmen, arriving on motorcycles and possibly in vehicles, unleashed sustained gunfire on unsuspecting residents. There was no warning, no negotiation, just violence.
This pattern mirrors broader national trends.
Between 2023 and 2025, Nigeria witnessed an escalation in banditry, insurgency, and communal clashes. ACLED data indicates nearly 12,000 conflict-related deaths in 2025 alone. Kidnappings surged, with thousands of cases recorded across the North-West, making it the epicentre of abduction-for-ransom operations.
Farmers are being forced off their lands. Children are being pulled out of schools. Entire communities are being displaced.
Irabor contextualised this ripple effect succinctly: “Incidents like this impact farmers such that they cannot work their farms, traders cannot move goods, and parents keep children away from school. The result is a vicious cycle of insecurity that breeds poverty, and that poverty breeds more insecurity.”
It is a cycle Nigeria has yet to break.
Root Causes: Structural, Not Cultural
There is a tendency in public discourse to reduce insecurity to ethnic or religious tensions. But Irabor dismissed this simplification.
“The root causes of insecurity are structural, not cultural.”
He pointed to youth unemployment, hovering above 40 per cent in many states, as a primary driver. Idle, economically disenfranchised youths become easy recruits for criminal networks. Add porous borders, elite capture of resources, and an under-resourced security architecture, and the outcome becomes predictable.
Criminal groups exploit rural areas with weak state presence, establish operational bases, and gradually expand their reach. Over time, entire local government areas fall under the control of non-state actors.
This is not theoretical. It is happening in real time.
Government Response: Promises And Pressures
In the aftermath of the Jos tragedy, President Bola Tinubu visited Plateau State to commiserate with victims and stakeholders. Speaking directly to grieving families, he acknowledged the emotional toll of the incident, referencing the viral video of the mother and her son.
“I know your pain; I saw in the video how you held on to your son and felt the agony in your heart. Only God can give you joy and comfort. No amount of money can compensate for your loss.”
It was a moment of empathy, but also one of expectation.
The President made a firm commitment: “This experience will not repeat itself.”
He also reminded political leaders of their mandate: “We were elected on the promise of peace and prosperity, not to comfort and create widows and widowers.”
Beyond rhetoric, the administration has taken measurable steps: increased security budgets, mass recruitment into the military and police, deployment of surveillance systems, and the declaration of a national security emergency in late 2025.
Yet, the persistence of attacks raises a critical question: are these measures translating into tangible security gains on the ground?
The answer, at best, is mixed.
Unity Under Threat
Insecurity is not just a security issue; it is a national cohesion issue.
The retired General stressed that insecurity strikes at two of Nigeria’s most precious aspirations: unity and progress. “Starting with unity, Nigeria’s federal character was designed to manage diversity, yet insecurity has deepened the outward-pulling forces. Separatist rhetoric in the South-East, farmer-herder clashes that pit North against South, and resource-control grievances in the Niger Delta have all intensified. When citizens in one zone live in perpetual fear while others appear insulated, the social contract frays,” he explained.
The consequences are already visible. Separatist rhetoric is gaining traction. Ethno-religious divisions are deepening. Trust in state institutions is eroding.
Nigeria’s federal structure was designed to manage diversity. But insecurity is exposing its fault lines.
Economic Fallout: A Developmental Nightmare
The economic implications are equally severe.
Nigeria’s progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is under threat. According to the country’s third Voluntary National Review, only 34.6 per cent of key indicators show progress.
Food insecurity has doubled since 2015, now affecting nearly 70 per cent of the population. Foreign direct investment is declining. Resources that should fund education and healthcare are being diverted to security operations.
Irabor put it bluntly: “Without security, every other goal collapses.”
The Way Forward: An Integrated Approach
If the diagnosis is clear, the solution requires strategic alignment.
Irabor advocated a three-pronged framework anchored on synergy across critical sectors of national development. He emphasised the role of academia in generating data-driven and actionable research that moves beyond theory to practical solutions. He also highlighted the importance of the business community in providing capital and creating sustainable economic opportunities that can absorb idle youth and reduce vulnerability to criminal recruitment.
At the core of this framework is political leadership, which he said must take responsibility for enacting sound policies, ensuring accountability, and creating an enabling environment where both research and investment can translate into tangible security outcomes.
He also emphasises community engagement, local policing, economic empowerment, and judicial reform as critical components of a sustainable solution.
At the grassroots level, trust must be rebuilt. Communities must feel protected, not abandoned.
In Irabor’s words, “Political leadership must provide the enabling environment for development to thrive. On the security front, federal and state leaders should embrace decentralised security (state police with federal oversight), and for governance, they should adopt a fiscal federalism that rewards performance with strong anti-corruption mechanisms that restore trust.
“Delta’s recent emphasis on unity offers a political model worth emulating. For those who may not be aware, this involves dialogue forums that include traditional institutions, youths and women. It also includes transparent budgeting for infrastructure and cross-party commitment to national projects. Political elites across all zones in Nigeria must recognise that insecurity is not a regional problem but a national liability that threatens the very federation they govern.”
To Delta State, he lauded the road infrastructure and investment in people-centric policies. Still, he called for more investments in farming, “The state cannot afford to outsource manual labour to visitors. Farming remains the mainstay of Deltans. The youths must not abandon agriculture. Food remains critical even within Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
“The State Government needs to be deliberate on this matter. The locals could be encouraged with modern farming tools that can reduce physical exertion on the part of the locals. Simple implementations now exist that could be helpful. The State Government can intervene in this regard.”
A Nation At Crossroads
The image of the Jos mother is not just a moment, it is a warning.
It forces a confrontation with uncomfortable truths: that insecurity in Nigeria is no longer peripheral; it is central. It is not confined to one region or group; it is national. And that without decisive, coordinated action, it will continue to undermine the country’s unity and progress.
Yet, there is still a window, narrow, but real, for recalibration.
According to Irabor, “Nigeria does not lack plans. It lacks the political will to sustain the right action until the desired fruits begin to show. A secure, united, and sustainably developing Nigeria is not only possible, but it is also essential for West Africa, for the continent, and for global stability.”
He is right. The government’s ongoing efforts, if effectively implemented and complemented by structural reforms, could begin to shift the trajectory. But execution, not intention, will be the ultimate differentiator.
As Irabor’s lecture accentuated, the stakes could not be higher.
Nigeria stands at a crossroads, between a future defined by fragmentation and one anchored in stability.
For the mother in Jos, the debate is already settled. Her loss is permanent. Her grief is immeasurable.
For the nation, however, the outcome is still in play.
