THE 2026 Global Terrorism Index report (GTI), released last week by the Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP), shows that Nigeria experienced the largest year-on-year increase in terrorism-related deaths globally. The surge propelled Nigeria to fourth place on the index, trailing only Pakistan, Burkina Faso, and Niger. In 2025, Nigeria was ranked sixth, while in 2024, we were eighth in the world.
Nigeria’s ascent in the rankings comes amid decade-long security crisis characterised by an escalation in terrorism, banditry, and kidnappings. The violence and associated deaths have taken a heavy toll on the nation’s security apparatus, with several senior military officers among those killed in recent operations. Despite the fact that the United States of America recently bombed terrorists’ hideout in Sokoto State and has sent a sizeable number of its troops to the country to train Nigeria’s security operatives, the terrorists seem to be daring America’s President Donald Trump by stepping up their criminal enterprise.
There is no denying the fact that Sub-Saharan Africa remains the global epicentre of terrorism, hosting six of the 10 most affected nations. In contrast, Western nations experienced a paradoxical trend. While global incidents decreased, fatalities in the West rose by a sharp 280%. This spike was primarily driven by political terrorism, anti-Semitism, and Islamophobia.
Nigeria recorded the largest increase in terrorism deaths globally in 2025, with fatalities rising by 46 per cent, from 513 in 2024 to 750. Africa’s most populous nation is grappling with a multifaceted security crisis, as extremist groups such as Boko Haram and its offshoots attempt to carve out control of swathes of territory. Various ethnic militia and other criminal elements, including ‘bandit’ groups, are also active, mostly in North and Central Nigeria. Newer threats from emerging terrorist groups like the Lakurawa are also emerging.
In February this year, 162 people were massacred in Kwara state, near the border with the Benin Republic. This was one of the deadliest single attacks in the country’s recent history. On Wednesday last week, the army said troops, backed by air support, repelled a coordinated assault by Islamist insurgents on a military base in the north-eastern state of Borno, killing at least 80 fighters, including senior commanders. The assault comes after multiple suicide bombings last week Monday in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, that killed at least 23 and left more than 100 wounded.
The report stated that the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) and Boko Haram were responsible for most of the terror attacks in the country in 2025. Civilians were the most targeted group in 2025, accounting for 67 per cent of victims of the attacks, while the military accounted for 19 per cent.
Boko Haram was responsible for Nigeria’s second most lethal terrorist attack of the year. In May, armed militants raided the neighbouring villages of Mallam Karamti and Kwatandashi in Kukawa Local Government Area of Borno State.
While Borno remains the epicentre of Nigeria’s terrorism crisis, accounting for more than two-thirds of all attacks and deaths in 2025, together, ISWAP and Boko Haram accounted for 80 per cent of all terrorism-related deaths in Nigeria in 2025. The report revealed that Lakurawa, a relatively new group that surfaced in 2024, recorded 10 attacks and 74 deaths in 2025. However, there has been a growing wave of insecurity across Nigeria’s South-West region, which has become a major source of concern for residents, community leaders, and security experts.
States such as Ondo, Oyo, Osun, and Ekiti, once considered relatively peaceful compared to other parts of the country, are now witnessing a disturbing rise in kidnappings, armed attacks, and killings.
In many rural communities and along major highways, residents now live in constant fear, as criminal gangs exploit forests and remote areas to carry out violent operations. The situation has heightened anxiety among farmers, travellers, and residents who increasingly feel unsafe in their own communities. Specifically, the region has seen a sharp rise in insecurity over the past two months, with 32 reported attacks across affected states.
In some communities, farmers have abandoned their farmlands, while travellers avoid certain roads for fear of falling victim to kidnappers. The violence has not spared community leaders and traditional institutions, as even traditional rulers have been targeted and murdered by armed attackers. Such incidents have further deepened the sense of insecurity across the region and raised serious concerns about the safety of lives and property.
Amid the growing crisis, the pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, has raised alarm over what it described as the increasing influx of terrorists and bandits into the South-West from the northern part of the country.
Few days ago, the group warned that the region is gradually coming under pressure as criminal groups move into forests and border communities to establish operational bases for kidnappings and violent attacks. According to the organisation, the rising incidents of abduction and attacks on communities indicate a dangerous escalation of insecurity in the region.
But state governors in the South west are still behaving as if nothing is amiss. They issue press statements after any major attack to condemn the act and it ends there. Their docility may end up endangering the lives of millions of Nigerians if they continue to slumber. Agreed that some of them met with former President Muhammadu Buhari before they could establish the regional security network, the Amotekun. The then President Buhari still went ahead to decline to issue licenses to State Governors to purchase sophisticated weapons for the outfit. Will Amotekun operatives, armed with only dane guns be expected to face terrorists with sophisticated weapons?
Even with President Bola Tinubu in power, State Governors in the South west have not met with the President to canvass for more fire power for the security outfit. While Tinubu may have his style of dealing with the security challenges facing the country, the Governors should, as a call to duty, ensure that high calibre arms and ammunitions are bought for the group.
If the State Police now being championed by President Tinubu eventually comes to fruition, security apparatus in the South western states would be strengthened, with Amotekun providing the much needed man power support, while the newly established forest guards would take care of the bushes, which is being gradually taken over by armed terrorists.
The worsening security situation in the region has also sparked public outrage in several communities, particularly in Ondo State, where residents have staged protests against the rising wave of kidnappings. In Akure-North Local Government Area, angry youths and community members recently blocked a major highway to protest repeated attacks and abductions in their area. The protesters expressed frustration over the continued threat posed by armed criminals and called on the authorities to take urgent steps to protect residents.
Ondo State is reeling from a wave of insecurity, with kidnapping, terror attacks, and killings leaving residents in fear. Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa has vowed to tackle the menace, announcing measures like night-time motorcycle ban. Security forces have arrested over 160 suspects, but concerns persist, as ransom payments continue to fuel the crisis.
Recent attacks have also led to the closure of schools, as anxious parents rush to withdraw their children from areas deemed unsafe. The impact on farming communities has been particularly severe, with many abandoning their lands for fear of being attacked or kidnapped.
Gunmen also recently invaded the community near Akure Airport and fired gunshots, throwing the community into panic and leading to the hurried closure of schools in the area. The development led to anxious parents rushing to schools to withdraw their children, as rumours of insecurity spread quickly across the communities.
In Osun State, border communities, especially those around Osun/Kwara borders, are living in fear. The fallout of insecurity in Kwara State is responsible for the situation. Villages that were known to be peaceful are now being attacked by terrorists. For example, unknown gunmen invaded Ora-Igbomina community recently, kidnapping residents on two different occasions.
The gunmen, whose identities were unknown during the first attack in January, kidnapped a retired customs officer, Emmanuel Owolabi, in Ifedayo Local Government Area of the state. The kidnapped victim was released after three weeks and payment of ransom to his kidnappers. Another resident, a farmer, was not so lucky, as he was killed.
In February this year, the men of the underworld returned to the same Ora community, located on the Osun-Kwara boundary, and kidnapped two residents, Tayese Adeyeye, and Sunday Adewumi. In view of these happenings, the state government held several security meetings, where it was agreed that the border security should be strengthened.
Governor Ademola Adeleke, after a Security Council meeting, said that his administration would work with all security operatives to tighten security at border towns to curb the spreading insecurity in Kwara State from affecting Osun.
Rising cases of insecurity, particularly kidnapping, have become a growing concern across parts of Oyo State, with residents of several communities expressing fears over their safety.
Areas considered most vulnerable include Oke-Ogun, Ibarapa, and some parts of Ogbomoso. Suspected criminal elements have reportedly taken advantage of isolated routes and forested areas to carry out abductions. Ogun State has also had it’s fair share of insecurity with reported cases of kidnapping and banditry in some local communities. In Lagos, many known kidnappers and bandits have been seen in the state, “cool off” after major operations in the North. Again, local criminal elements have also “cashed in” by staging several kidnappings-for-ransom, although many of them were caught.
The six South west Governors met early this year to collaborate on strategies to nip the crisis in the bud. They spoke about establishing a Joint Surveillance and Monitoring Team to coordinate security operations across the region, specifically to address kidnapping and activities of criminal groups. They also spoke on deploying advanced technology, including aerial surveillance systems (drones) to monitor forests, which serve as kidnappers’ hideouts, while plans are afoot to launch a live digital intelligence-sharing platform for real-time exchange of threat alerts.
To fund the initiatives, a South West Security Fund (SWSF) is to be set up, funded by the states, to ensure steady financial resources for security patrols, equipment, and training, overseen by Special Advisers on Security from all the six states. Amotekun is also to be empowered to intensify patrols along vulnerable routes and in forests. There is a renewed emphasis on deploying dedicated Forest Guards to reclaim areas used for kidnapper hideouts.
On the influx of large numbers of people into the region which could lead to criminal infiltration, the Governors said that they would be tightening border monitoring, and also collaborating with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) for better identification. It is time for them to FastTrack the implementation of these plans for the safety of the region. Time for talk is over. What we desire is peace and the safety of all Nigerians where ever they may reside.
See you next week.
- Akintunde is the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Glittersonline newspaper. His syndicated column, Monday Discourse, appears on News Point Nigeria newspaper on Monday.