By Bilal Abdullahi and Moses Tansi

Across Nigeria today, insecurity is no longer an abstract national concern; it is a daily reality shaping how millions of working people live, eat, farm, trade, and survive. From the farmlands of Benue to the markets of Zamfara, from the villages of Borno to the communities of Plateau, violence has become a defining feature of economic life. The working class, peasants, artisans, traders, transport workers, and unemployed youth bear the heaviest burden.

The recent attack in Jos, Plateau State, is yet another tragic reminder. On 29th March 2026, gunmen stormed communities in Jos North, killing at least 20 people and injuring many others, prompting the imposition of a curfew. In a separate but related incident the same week, over 30 people were killed in another attack in Plateau State. These are not isolated events but part of a long, bloody cycle of violence that has engulfed the Middle Belt.

A Nation Under Siege

Nigeria’s insecurity crisis is vast and multi-layered. Between 2020 and 2024 alone, over 1,300 incidents of gun attacks were recorded nationwide. Armed banditry, insurgency, farmer-herder conflicts, and communal clashes have turned large swathes of the country into conflict zones.

The humanitarian consequences are staggering. According to recent projections, nearly 35 million Nigerians may face food insecurity in 2026, driven largely by violence disrupting farming and rural life. In Benue State, over 450,000 people have been displaced as entire villages are sacked by armed groups. (Amnesty International)

Plateau State offers a grim snapshot of this crisis. Since 2001, nearly 12,000 people have been killed and over 420 communities attacked. Behind these numbers are destroyed homes, abandoned farms, widowed families, and a generation growing up in displacement.

In the North East, the situation remains dire, with Boko Haram and its offshoot, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), continuing to wreak havoc. Over 300 incidents were recorded in 2025 alone, with ISWAP overrunning at least 16 military bases in the first half of the year. The humanitarian toll is staggering, with tens of thousands killed, millions displaced, and an entire generation denied education and stability. The Lake Chad Basin remains a hotspot, with porous borders allowing insurgents to regroup, recruit, and smuggle resources.

Meanwhile, in the southeastern states, a different kind of insecurity is brewing. In Imo State, for instance, the activities of unknown gunmen and sit-at-home orders imposed by secessionist groups have crippled economic activity, with traders shutting down businesses and farmers abandoning their lands. The state capital, Owerri, has witnessed a surge in kidnappings and armed robberies, leaving residents living in fear. The impact on livelihoods is palpable, with many families struggling to make ends meet as markets and businesses remain closed due to insecurity.

In the South West, insecurity is also a growing concern, with reports of armed robberies, kidnappings, and attacks on communities. While the region has been relatively more stable than other parts of the country, the situation is worsening, with economic hardship and poverty exacerbating insecurity.

Destruction of Livelihoods

For working people, insecurity is fundamentally an economic catastrophe. Agriculture—the backbone of rural Nigeria has been severely disrupted. In Plateau State, where over 70% of the population depends on farming, violence has forced farmers off their land. In some areas, only 15% of arable land is cultivated today, compared to over 60% in earlier years.

This collapse in farming directly translates into hunger, poverty, and rising food prices. Markets shrink when farmers cannot produce. Transport workers lose income when roads become unsafe. Traders suffer losses as supply chains break down. In Benue, attacks have gone beyond killings—grain reserves, boreholes, schools, and clinics have been deliberately destroyed. This shows that insecurity is not just about violence against individuals but a systematic destruction of the means of survival.

Even in mining and industrial zones, insecurity has taken a toll. Attacks on sites such as the Oreke-Okeigbo mining area in Kwara State have led to killings and kidnappings of workers, disrupting economic activity and deterring investment.

Displacement and Social Collapse

One of the most devastating consequences of insecurity is mass displacement. In Plateau State alone, over 200,000 people have been displaced in recent years, many forced into overcrowded camps with little access to food, healthcare, or education. For working-class families, displacement means the loss of everything—land, tools, homes, and community networks. Children are pulled out of school, increasing illiteracy and deepening cycles of poverty. Women and children, who form the majority of displaced populations, face heightened vulnerability.

The result is a growing “reserve army” of impoverished and unemployed youth, many of whom are drawn into the very cycles of violence that destroyed their communities in the first place.

Roots of the Crisis

While ruling elites often frame insecurity in narrow ethnic or religious terms, the reality is deeply material. Competition over land, water, and resources—intensified by climate change and population pressure lies at the heart of many conflicts. At the same time, mass unemployment, especially among youth, where rates exceed 30% in parts of northern Nigeria, creates a pool of recruits for armed groups. In a system where millions are denied access to decent work, education, and social security, violence becomes both an economic activity and a survival strategy.

The failure of the Nigerian state has worsened the crisis. Poor intelligence, underfunded security services, corruption, and lack of accountability have allowed violence to persist. In many cases, communities are left to defend themselves, deepening cycles of reprisals.

Beyond Band-Aid Solutions

For We in the Movement for a Socialist alternative, insecurity in Nigeria cannot be solved through militarisation alone. Decades of increased military spending have not brought peace. Instead, what is needed is a fundamental restructuring of society in the interest of the working majority.

First, there must be massive public investment in agriculture, including mechanisation, rural infrastructure, and guaranteed security for farmers. Land must be brought under public ownership and managed democratically, and open for usage by both farmers and herders, with all the mutual benefits of cooperation between the two categories of agricultural workers in full play. Of course to prevent conflict between them, a planned grazing systems and modern ranching supported by the state, along side establishment of large Cooperative farm system that will see individuals farmers merging their efforts to maximize their productive output.

Secondly, job creation must be prioritised through public works programmes, industrialisation, and expansion of social services. Idle youth are easily recruited into violence; meaningful employment is a powerful antidote.

Thirdly, community-based democratic security structures under the control of working people, not corrupt elites, must complement formal security agencies. This would ensure accountability and local participation in maintaining peace.

Finally, the struggle against insecurity must be linked to the broader fight against capitalism and elite misrule. As long as wealth remains concentrated in the hands of a few while millions struggle to survive, the conditions for violence will persist.

The bloodshed across the country is not an isolated tragedy; it is a symptom of a deeper crisis rooted in inequality, poverty, and state failure. For Nigeria’s working people, insecurity is not just about fear; it is about lost livelihoods, hunger, and a stolen future. Only a socialist transformation placing the needs of workers, farmers, and the poor at the centre of economic and political life can break this cycle and build a society where security is not a privilege, but a right. And this task of socialist transformation is not on the agenda of the ruling elites who benefit from the capitalist system of disorder, imposing mass deprivation and poverty on the working masses. It is the working masses, themselves who must take up the task to organise and mobilise their numbers, across all ethnic-nationalities and religious divide to bring about mass movement of the working masses fully coming into the arena of struggle to confront the ruling class, and seize political power from their grip and by the fact of its revolutionary uprising abolish capitalist exploitation.