The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has warned that Nigeria’s worsening security situation is no longer a series of isolated attacks but a coordinated challenge to state authority, following fresh threats by armed groups and repeated mass abductions across the country.
HURIWA’s position comes in response to a new video released by Boko Haram, in which the group issued a 72-hour ultimatum over 416 abducted women and children in Borno State, daring the government to attempt a rescue operation and threatening to relocate the victims if its conditions are not met.
The rights group described the development as a “dangerous psychological escalation,” arguing that the ability of a non-state armed group to issue public deadlines and threaten consequences signals a weakening of deterrence and operational control by state authorities.
According to HURIWA, the situation reflects a broader pattern of insecurity that now spans multiple regions of the country. It cited the killing of a commercial driver and abduction of passengers along the Ore–Benin expressway, describing the highway as a “persistently unsafe corridor where armed gangs operate with alarming freedom.”
The group also referenced renewed violence in Plateau State, particularly in Riyom and Barkin Ladi, where communities have suffered repeated night attacks resulting in deaths and injuries. It further noted reports of assaults on military formations in some parts of the country, warning that such incidents indicate a troubling expansion of operational boldness among armed groups.
HURIWA said these developments raise serious concerns about the effectiveness of Nigeria’s current security coordination under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, arguing that the persistence of mass abductions, rural attacks, and highway kidnappings points to systemic gaps in intelligence response and crisis management.
Beyond condemning the violence, the organisation framed the crisis as a governance and institutional challenge, stressing that security failures are now directly affecting national mobility, economic activity, and public confidence in the state.
HURIWA warned that continued exposure of citizens to repeated attacks without decisive state control risks normalising insecurity as part of daily life, a development it described as “a dangerous shift toward functional disorder.”
The association called for urgent reforms in security coordination, stronger protection of highways and rural communities, and improved intelligence-led operations capable of preventing attacks rather than reacting to them.
It further urged the Federal Government to treat the current wave of violence as a national emergency requiring unified command action, enhanced accountability within the security leadership, and faster deployment of modern surveillance and response systems.
HURIWA concluded that Nigeria’s current security trajectory demands immediate correction, warning that failure to restore effective state control could deepen instability and further erode public trust in governance.