Abuja, Nigeria The Congress of African Journalists (CAJ) has strongly condemned the escalating wave of banditry, terrorism, kidnapping, and violent crime sweeping across Nigeria, warning that citizens no longer feel safe on highways, in schools, on farms, or even in their homes.
In a press statement issued for immediate release on Saturday, the CAJ described the crisis as “a direct failure of the State’s primary constitutional duty: the security and welfare of the people.”
The organization highlighted the situation in the North-West, where communities in Zamfara, Katsina, and Niger States continue to endure coordinated attacks, mass abductions, and the burning of villages. Multiple farming settlements have been displaced in the last quarter alone, a development CAJ says is deepening food insecurity and forcing rural populations into internally displaced persons (IDP) camps.
In the North-East, the CAJ noted that despite years of military operations, Boko Haram and ISWAP affiliates still maintain the capacity to attack soft targets, ambush convoys, and disrupt humanitarian access. Civilians in the region remain caught between armed groups and what the statement called “a shrinking safe space.”
Kidnapping and armed robbery have also become endemic nationwide, according to the CAJ. The Abuja-Kaduna highway, forest corridors in the South-West, and rural roads in the South-East have turned into hotspots for mass kidnapping for ransom. With schools, commuters, and traders now primary targets, the group said the country is gripped by “a climate of fear that paralyzes economic activity.”
The CAJ further warned of Nigeria’s vulnerability to transnational crime, pointing to Liberia’s recent record cocaine seizure as a cautionary example. It argued that porous borders and an overstretched security architecture could leave Nigeria exposed to organized criminal networks, risking its transformation into both a transit and destination hub without urgent reform.
In its statement, the CAJ issued three demands to the Federal Government. First, it called for citizen security to be prioritized over optics through intelligence-led policing, secured borders, and properly equipped forces focused on protecting lives and property, “not VIP convoys alone.”
Second, it urged security agencies including the Nigeria Police, DSS, and the military to end the harassment, intimidation, and detention of journalists, protesters, and ordinary citizens exercising their rights to free expression, assembly, and accountability.
“A security agency that suppresses citizens cannot claim to protect them,” the statement read. Third, the CAJ appealed to Nigerian courts to act as impartial arbiters of the Constitution, insisting that justice must not serve the interests of those in power at the expense of victims, whistleblowers, and citizens seeking redress.
“Nigeria’s journalists will not be silenced,” the CAJ declared. The organization pledged to continue documenting, investigating, and reporting on insecurity and governance failures, emphasizing that “a safe press is a prerequisite for a safe society.”
Signing the statement, Michael Adeboboye, Chairman of the Board of Trustees and Acting International President of CAJ, expressed solidarity with Nigerian citizens, media practitioners, and civil society groups bearing the brunt of the crisis.
“The time for communiqués without action has passed,” Adeboboye said. “Nigerians deserve safety, justice, and a government that keeps its constitutional promise.”
