Human rights and civil society activist, Dr Jude Obasanmi, has urged the Federal Government to rise to the occasion and address the unabated militia attacks on innocent Nigerians across the states of the federation.
Obasanmi made the call in a statement titled “State of the Nation,” which was made availableon Sunday in Benin.
He said, “The Nigerian state can no longer credibly deny complicity, whether by action, negligence, silence, or calculated inaction, in these coordinated, systematic, and repeatedly executed attacks against innocent people.
“What we are witnessing is no longer isolated violence. It bears the markings of orchestration, planning, protection, and sustained failure of responsibility.”
Obasanmi called on the federal government to immediately take proactive steps to address the insecurity and restore people’s trust in government.
“Today, many Nigerians increasingly feel abandoned by the very institutions sworn to protect them.
“Villages burn, communities are displaced, citizens live in fear, and yet official responses remain weak, selective, reactive, delayed, or politically sanitised.
“A nation that normalises bloodshed risks losing not only lives but also its moral legitimacy,” he said.
He warned that “if this trajectory continues unchecked, the long-term consequences will be devastating.”
According to him, a government that repeatedly fails to prevent mass killings, prosecute perpetrators, and reassure its citizens inevitably raises grave questions about its role, intent, or indifference.
The activist added that “history has repeatedly shown that when governments fail to protect their citizens, citizens eventually stop believing in the nation itself.
“And that is the greatest danger before us. We have not merely been attacked.
“We are being conquered psychologically, socially, economically, and territorially, while those entrusted with power continue to deny, deflect, decamp, or remain silent,” he said.
Obasanmi noted that unless the government reviewed its security architecture to tame the menace, it could lead to the collapse of public trust in the Nigerian state and its institutions.
He added that “it may also lead to deepening ethnic, regional, and religious divisions, the rise of self-defence militias and widespread vigilantism.
“It may further trigger economic decline as insecurity destroys farming, investment, and commerce, causes mass displacement and humanitarian crises, and fuels the radicalisation of frustrated youths who no longer believe in justice or democracy.”
