***Forum cites 10,000 deaths under Tinubu, urges urgent overhaul of security framework
The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has sounded the alarm that Northern Nigeria is sliding into a dangerous corner, besieged by worsening insecurity, crippling poverty, and mounting environmental crises.
Rising from its 78th National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting in Kaduna, the Forum said the region could no longer afford silence while its people suffer daily attacks and neglect.
“This is not the time for the North to fold its arms while things deteriorate,” ACF Chairman Mamman Osuman declared. “Our security situation is worsening, our resources are being exploited, and environmental problems are mounting. We must unite and defend our region.”
Osuman lamented the rising death toll from terrorism, floods, and banditry, noting: “We have lost children, young men and women, and the elderly. The state of affairs is deeply troubling. That is why I call for sober reflection and prayers.”
ACF Special Adviser on Public Affairs, Bashir Hayatu Gentile, told the BBC after the meeting that the Forum had carefully reviewed the North’s plight and resolved to intensify pressure on government.
“These are real problems facing the North, and government must act. Nothing is more disturbing today than insecurity, kidnappings, and killings everywhere,” Gentile said.
He disclosed that the Forum had warned the Federal Government that northern patience was “wearing thin” and demanded a change in strategy to halt the devastation.
The ACF also cited a recent Amnesty International report that 10,217 people have been killed in the North within just two years of President Bola Tinubu’s administration. Gentile described the figure as “deeply disturbing,” noting that government silence since the report’s release was an indictment of its seriousness.
“Since Amnesty released the report, no official has denied it. That silence confirms the crisis. This is why the ACF insists that Nigeria’s entire security architecture must be overhauled,” he stressed.
The Forum further condemned recent attacks, including the Malumfashi massacre in Katsina State, where gunmen stormed a mosque during dawn prayers, killing and burning worshippers. While reports placed the death toll at 27, Gentile said community sources believed the figure was higher.
With mass abductions and village raids now a near-daily occurrence across the North, the Forum urged political leaders, traditional rulers, and stakeholders to forge a united front to protect the region before the situation spirals beyond control.