Nigeria's President Tinubu urged to declare national security emergency amid rising violence

The Northern Elders Forum (NEF), a coalition of senior leaders from Nigeria's north, issued a statement on 10 June calling the country “bleeding” and demanding that President Bola Tinubu declare a National Security Emergency. The forum, represented by spokesperson Prof. Abubakar Jiddere, said the surge in kidnappings, banditry, terrorist attacks and other violent crimes is sweeping across virtually every region—from Zamfara and Katsina to Kaduna, Niger, Plateau, Benue and beyond. It warned that the insecurity is crippling agriculture, driving farmers off their land, eroding investor confidence and pushing families into poverty.

The NEF urged the federal government to deploy extraordinary measures, strengthen intelligence and policing, and address the “mass abductions and kidnapping‑for‑ransom” economy that it says has become sophisticated and entrenched. The group argued that the Constitution obliges the state to protect its citizens, and that failure to act is driving the nation toward anarchy.