The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has sounded a fresh alarm over the deepening insecurity and persistent poverty ravaging Northern Nigeria, urging urgent and coordinated action from government and regional leaders.
The forum’s chairman, Mamman Mike Osuman, SAN, highlighted a sharp rise in terrorism, armed banditry, kidnappings and insurgency across multiple states during his address at the ACF’s 79th National Executive Council meeting in Kaduna. He stressed that families and entire communities have been uprooted, forcing thousands into displacement and creating severe humanitarian strain.
Osuman pointed to rising violence in areas including Kwara, Southern Kaduna, Katsina and Benue, saying the security situation now threatens the very fabric of daily life. School closures have become common, health and education services are disrupted, and rural economies struggle as fear keeps residents from farms and markets.
The growing displacement crisis has overloaded makeshift camps and informal settlements with limited access to essentials like food, clean water, healthcare and shelter, worsening poverty and heightening risks of malnutrition and disease among vulnerable populations.
ACF leaders also warned that politicians focusing excessively on the 2027 general elections are sidelining critical efforts to tackle insecurity and social decay. Osuman lamented that some groups appear more focused on political positioning than on addressing pressing humanitarian and socio-economic issues.
Experts and humanitarian agencies have repeatedly linked the rise in violence to deeper structural problems. Poverty, unemployment and economic exclusion make youths vulnerable to recruitment by criminal and extremist groups, complicating efforts to restore peace.
Recent violent incidents underscore the urgency of the forum’s warnings. Gunmen attacked communities in Kaduna State, killing several people and abducting civilians including a Catholic priest, highlighting the reach and intensity of insecurity.
In Katsina State, a truce between local leaders and armed groups collapsed, resulting in deadly bandit attacks that killed scores of villagers and exposed the fragility of local peace efforts.
The crisis is not only a security challenge but also a major humanitarian concern. United Nations agencies report that millions of people in the north face acute food insecurity, with hunger levels rising due to conflict-induced disruptions to farming and market access, a situation that heightens risk of famine-like conditions in parts of the region.
Northern leaders, civil society figures and analysts alike agree that the insecurity-poverty cycle will persist unless both security operations and socioeconomic investments are strengthened. Calls for increased community engagement, improved rural infrastructure, job creation, education access and resilient food systems have gained traction from policy circles.
The ACF’s urgent appeal comes as communities across northern states grapple with overlapping crises that threaten lives, livelihoods and long-term stability in one of Nigeria’s most populous regions.
