A security specialist, Mr. Seyi Babaeko has warned that Nigeria is fast approaching a dangerous turning point as waves of violent attacks, kidnappings, and coordinated assaults continue to spread across the country.
Speaking in Lagos, the Managing Director and CEO of Absolute Security and Advance Protocol Ltd said the pattern of insecurity shows clear signs of growing organisation among criminal networks, making the situation far more serious than many realise.
Babaeko explained that the frequency and scale of recent incidents indicate that armed groups are becoming more sophisticated, better funded, and increasingly strategic in how they operate.
Communities, he noted, are beginning to feel abandoned as invasions, ambushes, and mass kidnappings become disturbingly common.
“The violence scattered across Nigeria is no longer random,” he cautioned, adding that entire villages have been emptied overnight, families displaced, and convoys attacked in broad daylight.
He stressed that the most worrying trend is how quickly Nigerians are adapting to the violence, warning that normalising such insecurity could lead to long-term destabilisation.
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In his view, President Bola Tinubu must act urgently to prevent the country from slipping deeper into crisis.
Babaeko recommended that the federal government adopt a unified national security strategy that ensures all security agencies operate under one coordinated umbrella. Fragmented responses, he said, allow criminal elements to exploit gaps and undermine national efforts.
He also emphasised the need to overhaul the country’s intelligence architecture, arguing that outdated systems cannot keep pace with modern criminal networks.
According to him, Nigeria must expand the use of technology in security operations, integrating tools such as surveillance drones, satellite monitoring, and advanced night-operation equipment in high-risk regions.
Addressing Nigeria’s porous borders, he added, must be treated as a priority, as illegal arms continue to flow into the country and strengthen violent groups.
Beyond military force, Babaeko said Nigeria needs a renewed national peace and reconciliation framework that involves traditional leaders, religious institutions, civil society, and community structures.
He outlined the importance of tackling the underlying drivers of insecurity, including poverty, unemployment, rural neglect, and lingering grievances that fuel tensions.
The police, he argued, must undergo deep reforms in training, equipment, investigative capacity, and community trust-building.
Babaeko also supported growing calls for state policing, insisting that Nigeria’s size and diversity make centralised policing ineffective in responding swiftly to local threats.
He urged the federal government to move quickly, noting that Nigeria still has a narrow window to reverse the current decline and build a safer, more stable future.
