Nigeria's Bandit War of Attrition

By Mobolaji Sanusi

“In a sick country, every step to health is an insult to those who live on its illness.” — Bernard Malamud (1914‑1986).

Banditry remains one of the most severe crimes affecting parts of contemporary Africa. In many afflicted countries, control over the mining of natural resources by corrupt and influential local leaders, often in collusion with foreign interests, is seen as a foundation of this criminality. In other cases, the violence is driven by political control or by ethno‑religious tensions. In Nigeria, where bandits’ inhuman activities are causing serious upheavals, the causes appear to be a combination of these factors.

Bandits have turned their illicit activities into a thriving industry, routinely demanding billions of naira in ransom while facing little consequence. The recent escalation of the bandits’ war has been marked by a series of brutal incidents. On 15 May 2026, more than thirty‑nine pupils and seven teachers were abducted during attacks on three schools in Oriire Local Government Area of Ogbomosho, Oyo State. A viral video showed the murder of mathematics teacher Mr Michael Oyedokun, one of the abductees. The same day, Mussa Central Primary School in Askira‑Uba, Borno State, was raided and over fifty children were reportedly taken. In Abuja, by the end of May, bandits invaded the Peze community in Byazhi, Kubwa, abducting sixteen residents, including a vigilante commander’s wife and a pastor’s four children.

In the early days of June, bandit activity intensified. On 1 June 2026, in Kogi State, bandits blocked the Ayegunle‑Bunu Road in Kabba‑Bunu Local Government Council, abducting an unknown number of travelers. Troops from the 12th Brigade intervened and rescued at least twenty‑three victims. By the morning of 3 June 2026, in Ibadan, Oyo State, Mrs. Olaide Busayo Adegoke John‑Paul, younger sister of former Minister of Power Mr Adebayo Adelabu, and her twin sons were taken by unknown gunmen. In Zamfara, a state increasingly becoming a bandit theatre, six polytechnic students were reportedly kidnapped. These and many unreported cases are not random; they are orchestrated by enemies of the Nigerian state that security forces must dismantle and bring to justice.

Wikipedia defines banditry as “an organized crime committed by outlaws, typically involving the threat or use of violence… a bandit commits crimes such as extortion, robbery, kidnapping, and murder, either as an individual or in groups.” The Encyclopedia of Human Affairs adds that banditry is “in modern usage synonymous with gangsterism, brigandage, marauding, terrorism, piracy, and thievery.” These definitions illustrate the current malaise in the country, where citizens are more concerned about safety than well‑being. Schools are no longer safe for children, farmlands are abandoned as Fulani herders and bandits trample them, and routine travel on major highways has become dreaded. Bandits deploy violence and kidnapping as a commercial weapon, instilling fear, blackmailing relatives of abductees, and sometimes forcing the government to negotiate.

The menace is no longer confined to the north. Its incursions into the southwest—Oyo, Ogbomosho, Kogi, Kwara, Ogun, and Ondo—have made the situation increasingly difficult for the government to manage. Bandits are waging a war of attrition on the country. Under the Criminal Code Act, section 37, “Any person who levies war against the State, in order to intimidate or overawe the president or the Governor of a State, is guilty of treason and is liable to the punishment of death.” Bandits’ actions, whether in the north or south, amount to levying war against the state by intimidating its leaders. The question remains: Why does the Nigerian government grant amnesty or rehabilitate captured bandits, spending vast resources on them when they often become informants for other criminal elements or return to their criminal activities?

Why are bandit activities increasing daily? Despite modern technology, why do security institutions struggle to curb their spread? If non‑state actors are bandits, why can’t sincere state actors stop them if there is no complicity within the security architecture? These questions point to a burden of leadership that places the responsibility on President Bola Tinubu, GCFR, and the centralised control of police and security forces. Traditional rulers, community leaders, and local chiefs must also provide intelligence to help the central government apprehend bandits. In many cases, civilians supply food, drugs, arms, and ammunition to bandits, and some politicians may be complicit. The government’s responsibility to protect its people is enshrined in section 14(2b) of the constitution, yet many communities harbour and protect criminal gangs, blaming the government for the insecurity they create.

Leo Tolstoy once said, “Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.” If individuals and communities do not commit to rid the country of banditry, the government’s efforts will be limited. If powerful elements within the government secretly promote banditry, the state’s work may be futile. The government can only achieve results if saboteurs in the chain of criminality are caught and sanctioned, or if they voluntarily change their ways. Otherwise, the banditry menace threatens perilous consequences for all in the country.

Bernard Malamud’s observation that “In a sick country, every step to health is an insult to those who live on its illness” aptly captures the problems facing Nigeria, not only through banditry but in other spheres. With that, I rest my case for the week.

• Sanusi, former MD/CEO of Lagos State Signage & Advertisement Agency, is currently managing partner at AMS RELIABLE SOLICITORS. (WhatsApp Only‑07011117777)