Prominent citizens at the weekend sounded the alarm that Nigeria is “bleeding to death in silence,” as killings and forced displacements reach levels comparable to global conflict zones.
In a hard-hitting joint statement, the group — which includes former Aviation Minister Osita Chidoka, journalist Kadaria Ahmed, ex-Minister Nuruddeen Muhammad, business leader Tonye Cole, and other civic and political figures — said the scale of violence demands extraordinary action.
Citing Amnesty International, they noted that 10,217 Nigerians have been killed in violent attacks over the past two years — nearly matching civilian deaths in Ukraine’s ongoing war. Benue State alone recorded 6,896 deaths and 450,000 displaced, while Plateau reported 2,630 killed amid poisoned wells and torched farms. In Zamfara, 638 villages were sacked, residents forced to pay “levies by phone” to escape slaughter. In the North-East, Boko Haram has mounted fresh assaults on Gwoza, Damboa, Biu, and Bama, while “unknown gunmen” continue terror in the South-East.
“Parts of Nigeria are enduring wartime levels of slaughter, yet we are officially at peace,” the statement declared, warning that the state has lost its monopoly on force to bandits, militias, and extremists.
They condemned the government’s “ritual condemnations after every massacre” as signs of a nation in slow implosion, and urged President Bola Tinubu to establish a Presidential Task Force on National Security with extraordinary but constitutional powers.
Proposals included community-driven early warning systems, disarmament and reintegration programmes in conflict zones, and quarterly accountability reports to rebuild trust. They insisted the body must be professional, apolitical, and time-bound with measurable results.
The group cautioned against ethnic or religious framing of the crisis. “This is not a Fulani problem, or an Igbo problem, or a Christian–Muslim problem. It is a Nigerian problem with Nigerian faces,” they said, stressing that justice must remain blind to identity.
They pointed to examples from Colombia, Rwanda, and Northern Ireland, where nations clawed their way back from conflict through courage, reform, and consensus.
Closing on a sobering note, the leaders declared: “History will not judge the bandits. It will judge us who had the power to protect — and either rose to this moment or shrank from it. The right of every Nigerian child to grow up without fear is not negotiable.”
The statement was endorsed by figures across regions, including Mohammed Abdullahi, Sergius Ogun, Ali Bappayo Adamu, Basharu Altine Isah, Ismaeel Ahmed, Opeyemi Adamolekun, Jamila Bio Ibrahim, Ugo Egbujo, Sam Amadi, and Abba Bukar Abba Masta.