Echotitbits – Nigeria News

Tag: Insecurity in Nigeria

  • Federal Government Deploys Army Battalion to Kwara Following Deadly Attack

    Federal Government Deploys Army Battalion to Kwara Following Deadly Attack

    According to The Punch reporting, President Bola Tinubu has ordered the immediate deployment of an army battalion to Kaiama Local Government Area in Kwara State following a brutal attack that left over 160 residents dead. The new military command will spearhead “Operation Savannah Shield,” a targeted offensive designed to track down the gunmen who targeted innocent villagers in what the President described as a “cowardly and beastly” campaign of terror.

    The security crisis was also covered by Daily Post and Tribune Online, which provided updates on the humanitarian response. Daily Post confirmed that “relief materials are already being moved to the affected communities,” while Tribune Online quoted Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq saying, “We will not rest until the perpetrators of this massacre are brought to justice.”

    The U.S. government has reportedly condemned the killings and expressed support for the Nigerian government’s security deployment. Security experts remain concerned about the vulnerability of border communities in Kwara and have called for permanent military outposts in the region to prevent future incursions by bandits.

    Echotitbits take: The rapid deployment of “Operation Savannah Shield” shows a proactive stance, but the 10-hour delay reported by locals before troops arrived indicates a massive gap in early-warning systems. The focus must shift from reactive deployment to proactive intelligence gathering.

    Source: Channels TV – https://www.channelstv.com/2026/02/05/kwara-attack-tinubu-orders-deployment-of-troops-condemns-incident/, February 6, 2026

    Photo credit: Channels TV

  • Police deploy special team to enforce ban on VIP escorts

    Police deploy special team to enforce ban on VIP escorts

    The Nigeria Police Force has launched a Special Enforcement Team to ensure compliance with the presidential directive banning police from providing VIP escort and guard duties. According to Punch, the operation began in Lagos on December 6, 2025, covering strategic locations including the Lekki-Ikoyi Link Bridge and the domestic wing of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport. The Force PRO said early monitoring showed commendable compliance, with no arrests reported during the initial sweep. The police leadership reiterated that the policy is intended to redeploy personnel to core policing tasks for broader public safety. Source: Punch, December 6, 2025.

  • Editorial Opinion: When Nigeria Happens to the Powerful: A Wake-Up Call for Leadership Beyond Privilege

    Editorial Opinion: When Nigeria Happens to the Powerful: A Wake-Up Call for Leadership Beyond Privilege

    An imaginary former Senator of the Federal republic of Nigeria lamenting among helpless Nigerians

    Not too long ago, a former senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria—no longer in office, no longer surrounded by the trappings of power—was approached by a young citizen. In response to a casual exchange, the former lawmaker, with a tone of sincerity and fatigue, uttered a deeply revealing phrase:

    “May Nigeria not happen to you.”

    That brief remark has reverberated beyond its moment. It wasn’t just a statement—it was a confession, an admission of how quickly the illusion of safety and privilege dissolves when public office ends. It was also a mirror held up to the very soul of Nigeria’s dysfunctional socio-political system.

    This man had once been part of the machinery that ran the country. He had the power to influence budgets, pass laws, and shape policy. And yet, as soon as his tenure ended, he found himself swallowed by the same dysfunction that haunts ordinary Nigerians daily: insecurity, administrative chaos, crumbling infrastructure, and the silent indifference of the system.

    If a former senator can be so brutally vulnerable, what hope is there for the average Nigerian—those who never had the benefit of title, privilege, or armed escort?

    This story is not unique, but it is symbolic. It exposes a fundamental failure in our approach to governance. Public office in Nigeria is too often treated as a sanctuary from the hardship of the nation, rather than as a platform to transform that hardship. For many, leadership is reduced to a fleeting window of protection and accumulation—a time to secure wealth, enjoy prestige, and escape the daily grind of the masses.

    But here’s the painful truth: that escape is temporary.

    When power fades, the failing system you helped uphold comes for you too. That reality should frighten anyone in leadership who still believes that political office is about securing the moment instead of changing the system.

    This is a moral reckoning. We must ask: Why should any citizen have to fear that their country might “happen” to them? Why do even our lawmakers, governors, and ministers dread the same system they once managed? Why is Nigeria a place you survive while in office, but suffer once you’re out?

    Until we abandon the model of power as refuge and embrace leadership as responsibility, we will remain in this cycle. We need leaders who understand that the true measure of success is not what they gain while in power, but what they leave behind after power.

    A senator should not have to plead for mercy from the same country he helped lead. And a citizen should not have to pray that their nation does not “happen” to them.

    Leadership must become a legacy, not an escape.

    It is time to stop using the privilege of office for pecuniary gain, and start using it to build the kind of nation we won’t have to apologize for—even after we leave office.

  • Insecurity in Nigeria: President Buhari Replaces Service Chiefs

    Insecurity in Nigeria: President Buhari Replaces Service Chiefs

    Amidst rising insecurity in Nigeria and the clamour by citizens for the sack of heads of the nation’s security agencies, President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday accepted the immediate resignation of the Service Chiefs, and their retirement from service.

    Those involved are the Chief of Defence Staff, General Abayomi Olonisakin; Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen. Tukur Buratai; Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok Ekwe Ibas; and Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar.

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    Presidency spokesman, Femi Adesina in a statement Tuesday afternoon said: “President Buhari thanks the outgoing Service Chiefs for what he calls their “overwhelming achievements in our efforts at bringing enduring peace to our dear country,” wishing them well in their future endeavours”.

    The new Service Chiefs are: Major-General Leo Irabor, Chief of Defence Staff; Major-General I. Attahiru, Chief of Army Staff; Rear Admiral A.Z Gambo, Chief of Naval Staff; and Air-Vice Marshal I.O Amao, Chief of Air Staff.

    The President congratulates the new Service Chiefs, and urges them to be loyal and dedicated in the discharge of their responsibilities.

  • Release of Kankara Schoolboys Vindicates Buhari, Let’s Re-strategize Security – APC Chieftain

    Release of Kankara Schoolboys Vindicates Buhari, Let’s Re-strategize Security – APC Chieftain

    The release of over 300 schools boys kidnapped by Boko Haram Terrorists on December 11 has been described as a vindication of the commitment and determination of President Muhammadu Buhari to rid the Nigeria of insecurity.

    This was said by the former Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu in a statement on Saturday.

    A key figure in the rulling All Progressives Congress-led Federal Government (APC), Tinubu lauded President Buhari, and Katsina State Governor, Aminu Bello Masari for their intervention leading to the release of the kidnapped Kankara school boys.

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    “The initial abduction of the over 300 Kankara schoolboys from their dormitory in broad daylight was unsettling and raises serious concern. However, their prompt rescue from their abductors is heart-warming.

    “It vindicates President Buhari in his untiring commitment and determination to rid the country of insecurity and confront Boko Haram insurgents and bandits operating in some parts of the country’, Tinubu said.

    Mr Tinubu, who is widely speculated as nursing presidential ambition in 2023 also commended =men of the Nigerian Armed Forces an advised that more needed to be done to tackle rising spate of insecurity in the country.

    “I congratulate and commend the president for his prompt and decisive intervention. I must also congratulate Katsina State Governor Aminu Bello Masari and men of our armed forces for bringing the boys back home.

    “This laudable effort must be sustained. We must all do more to tackle the evil-doers and see the back of the Boko insurgents and bandits.

    While Nigerians and some lawmakers have called for the sack of Security Chiefs over what seems to be failure to address security challenges bedeviling the nation, Tinubu also called for a re-strategized security architecture.

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    “We need to upgrade our security infrastructure and re-strategize. The armed forces themselves must renew their efforts to make not only our schools safe for students but also our cities and villages.

    “No development can occur in a climate of fear, uncertainty, and insecurity of lives and property.

    “I empathize with the agonized parents and relations of the abducted schoolboys and rejoice with them over the release of their children from the jaws of the abductors. These boys must now be reunited with their families, the APC chieftain said.

  • Nigeria: ‘Bandits Have Direct Lines of Northern Governors’, Ex-Health Insurance Boss Claims

    Nigeria: ‘Bandits Have Direct Lines of Northern Governors’, Ex-Health Insurance Boss Claims

    A former executive secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme on Wednesday said bandits terrorising northern Nigeria have the direct lines of the governors in the region.

    While speaking on insecurity in Nigeria, Prof. Usman Yusuf, who was a guest on Arise TV’s The Morning Show Wednesday described politicians in the country as being worst than bandits who loot the country and provide guns for northern youths to rig elections and dump them afterward.

    According to Mr. Yusuf, negotiations between state governors and bandits are “the governors of the states importing from the bandits and a sign of failure in governance.”

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    Mr. Yusuf said who appeared on ARISE News said in some instances, governors of the states buy cattle for the bandits and even give them money as ways of pacifying them.

    “Many of these bandits have direct lines to these governors, calling them. I know Nasir el-Rufai refused to negotiate with them. The governors negotiate with them, they buy them cattle, they buy them birds, it is all signs of failure of governance from the centre to the states.

    “We are negotiating with bandits and giving them the money of the people they are killing,” the Professor of haematology-oncology and bone marrow transplantation said.

    He added, “you know there are two or three types of bandits, there are bandits in the forest that carry arms and we have a lot of bandits in government.

    “All those people that loot people’s money are worse than bandits. All those politicians that loot the people money are worse than bandits and they winning elections.”

    Mr. Yusuf said the insecurity being experienced in the country is a result of the enmeshed corruption and bad governance.

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    “It is politicians that imported to these kids to make them their political thugs. They give them arms all across the country, politicians give thugs arms and when they are done with them, they dump them.

    “These kids have the guns, they become bandits and thugs and cultists and armed robbers, so yes there are bandits stealing our money and there are bandits getting our money ransomed,” he said.