By Alabi Williams
Which should come first, the security and safety of the country, or to just manageably conduct a make-believe 2027 general elections, after which we return to a status quo of renewed violence and communities abandoned at the mercy of terrorists? The frenzy and din of political trickery have drowned out governance and shut out the daily realities of ordinary folks.
Concerned stakeholders are worried that at the pace insecurity has upset communal life and disrupted local economies, the stage might be set for a rough 2027, where many voting precincts would be inaccessible and accurate data would be hard to get.
Shouldn’t the authorities be more concerned that communities are emptying due to insecurity and find ways to secure the people, more than the efforts and resources being deployed to plot a fait accompli? The more disturbing scenario is that government appears not to pay attention to the details, or has decided to blackout on tragedies.
On March 24, 2026, a military response team made up of 10 soldiers and one policeman, was ambushed at Giro Masa community in Shanga Local Government Area of Kebbi State. They were lured by terrorists with a false intelligence alert.
Governor Nasir Idris, who interfaced with the media on the killings, said the team had responded to residents’ false distress call, that Lakurawa terrorists were operating around the area. The enemies swooped on them, killing 10 military personnel, a policeman, including civilian casualties. That breach introduced a new dimension to counter-terrorism efforts, meaning that soldiers are tricked with false information, only to be killed cheaply.
Somehow, that tragedy didn’t infuriate headlines the following Thursday morning. There was no outrage. Rather, what made banner mentions were political stories of parties preparing to hold conventions. The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), had its convention slated for that Saturday, and that was the big issue for the day. The fractured Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was reported making efforts for final reconciliation before the Nyesom Wike’s parallel convention. Those were the topics that got priority attention. The story of 10 soldiers killed by terrorists suffered what was like a conspiracy of silence.
It didn’t gain traction.
Governor Idris said the ambush underscored the dangers faced by security operatives in the line of duty. He promised maximum support to security operatives, and added he was going to Abuja to meet with the Chief of Army Staff to convey condolences. He will replace the destroyed vehicles and urged the military and other security agencies not to be discouraged, but remain resolute and professional to their constitutional responsibility of protecting lives and property. And he said the attack had been accepted in good faith.
There was no noticeable anger in Abuja over the killing of 10 soldiers. There never was, over other killings across the land. Party conventions were their concerns, to prepare the stage for next year’s elections. At least, they can make Abuja and state capitals safe for themselves.
It is not good anti-terrorism tactics for the political class to barricade themselves from harm. Even the military will get tired at some point, especially when they’re considered as expendable war collaterals, like the burnt vehicles Governor Idris promised to replace. A major counter-terrorism breach is not an incident to casually accept in good faith. It is a tragedy we cannot afford to normalise.
The Tinubu administration must decide whether politics of 2027 supersedes security of life and property; whether going to Zamfara, to accept Governor Dauda Lawal into APC is weightier than assuring terrorised communities in the state that there is still a central authority that was voted to protect them.
The idea of an ambush based on false alarm causing the death of soldiers is not a development that should be condoned. Let the army dig deeper to fish out the enemies wherever they’re lodged. It matters because the soldiers that are doing the fighting must not be allowed to fall into depression.
That same March 24th, an improvised explosive device (IED) detonated on a road in Woro community in Kaiama Local Government Area of Kwara State. A commercial driver and a woman were killed when their vehicle ran on it. Bombs are now becoming a critical part of the insurgency in the Kwara axis. Such deployments used to be limited to Borno-Yobe axis.
In Niger State, terrorists also bombed a bridge on Luma Road in Borgu Local Government Area. One report said the dastardly effort was to attempt to disrupt troops movement in the ongoing counter-insurgency operations. The bridge is reported to link Luma, Babana and Agwara.
Again, that bomb incident got a poor media mention, perhaps due to remoteness of the axis. But that cannot be excused. Every territory under the Federal Republic deserves attention and security. If these attacks are allowed, affected communities stand the risk of being cut off from constituted authority and would be at the mercy of terrorists. Many communities have surrendered to terrorists’ parallel regimes. That’s unacceptable.
Despite assurances and efforts by government, terrorists are getting bolder and unrelenting in their activities in the North-East and North-Central. Based on the Global Terrorism Index (GTI) 2026, Nigeria is now the fourth most terrorised country in the world, coming after Pakistan, Burkina Faso and Niger. In 2024 we were 8th and 6th in 2025.
Many theaters in the North-East, North-West and North-Central are enclaves of terrorists. If there are to be elections, these territories must be fully reintegrated and repossessed. There are hundreds of displaced persons to be resettled in their homes. The roads have to be made safe and cleared of mines and IEDs. People must be alive to participate and determine the government they want.
Due to the escalation of terrorist activities in Borno State, the Senator representing Borno South, Ali Ndume advised the government to prioritise security over scheming around 2027. Ndume said: “The people that will vote are dying. A lot of people are still missing from Ngoshe massacre…” That says it all. You need people to be alive for the electoral processes to take place.
However, the government told Ndume to shut up. He should take security matters to the Intelligence corps and the Department of State Security (DSS), not to the media. But there is nothing hidden under the sun. The terrorists operate in the open and are now competing for space on the social media. Their activities are there for the intelligence community to track.
The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Joash Amupitan, also raised security concerns with regards to the 2027 elections. At the lecture organised by the Alumni Association of the National Institute for Security Studies (AANISS), he said that elections and security must no longer be treated as separate concerns but as “two sides of the same coin of national stability.”
He noted that the polls slated for January and February 2027 are “a security trigger,” fueled by the “sophisticated triad” of social media volatility, AI-driven disinformation, and foreign Information manipulation, compounded by logistical challenges of insurgency and communal conflicts.
Indeed, elections in Nigeria are a major security trigger since the first, second and third republics. The mismanagement of elections in the First Republic led to the violence and insecurity that culminated in the collapse of that republic. The recklessness of the political class and fraudulent elections of 1983 fueled the collapse of the Second Republic. The greed of the political class and failure to recognise June 12 caused the failure of the Third Republic.
Now that terrorists are on rampage everywhere, shouldn’t politicians play fair to avoid triggering wider insecurity? Some say politicians have their strategies of delivering elections, even under the most terrifying circumstances. For example, when politicians hold their party conventions, insurgents and bandits don’t go there.
Terrorists have not been reported to disrupt elections, since the commencement of the Fourth Republic. It was only under President Goodluck Jonathan that INEC had to adjust the elections timetable to allow the military recover local government areas that were occupied by terrorists in the North-East. It seems politicians have their ways with terrorists.
And that has led theorists to postulate that when politicians develop the political will to fight terrorism, the efforts would make noticeable progress. This is calling on President Tinubu to develop the will to fight terrorism, the way he is strategising to win 2027 elections.
In November 2025, the President declared a lame national emergency on insecurity that refused to change anything. Obviously, that declaration did not include restrictions in movement of arms and terrorists across locations. It did not put political office holders and traditional rulers on the firing line, to take responsibility for whatever happened in their respective jurisdictions. Despite the emergency, terrorism waxed stronger.
During the emergency declaration, the President notified the National Assembly to speed up the passage of relevant laws to authorise state police. There are no signs there will be state police any time soon.
As part of the emergency declaration, President Tinubu told governors to “rethink establishing boarding schools in remote areas without adequate security protection when they gather for prayers, especially in vulnerable areas.”
The president just admitted that some remote areas that lack security protection were better ceded to terrorists. It is left to be seen how those spaces are going to be administered during 2027 elections?
In 2024, President Tinubu created the Livestock Ministry to address herder-farmer crisis, generally agreed to be major enabler of insecurity. But the ministry is poorly funded. In 2025, N11.8 billion was earmarked for the development of the ministry. N315 million was budgeted to build ranches in states that have high records of farmer-herder clashes. Taraba, Plateau and Benue states remain hotbeds of herder-farmer clashes. No ranches.
In his 2026 budget defence, the Minister of Livestock Development, Idi Mukhtar, lamented that of the N11.8 billion proposed in 2025, the ministry had not received any funding.
That was in February. The minister added that from the 2024 approved take-off grant, only N20 billion was released to fund 40 projects.
Let President Tinubu secure Nigeria first, so that he’ll have a country to govern after 2027!
In this article