By Muazu Elazeh

For residents of some communities in Plateau, Kebbi, and Zamfara States, last week was agonising. Not that the previous weeks were any different; in this particular week, they endured a deeply draining, continuous stretch of emotional torture. In these communities, in one week, families buried numerous loved ones, dreams were shattered, and for many citizens, life has been altered and destiny rearranged forever, all because of terrorist attacks. A daily struggle with fear defines normal life in these communities.

In Kebbi State, the Lakurawa terrorists attacked communities in the Arewa Local Government Area, slaughtering 34 people mercilessly. In Plateau State, gunmen raided Dorowa Babuje and Jol communities in Riyom Local Government Area, killing about ten people. Zamfara experienced the highest toll in terms of sheer numbers, with around 50 people murdered by terror groups that have, since 2012, turned the state into a large killing ground.

For years, the pattern has remained unchanged. People are abducted and held for ransom. Homes and livelihoods are destroyed. Villages are attacked and looted. Survivors are forced to leave their ancestral homes in search of safety. All of this persists because some individuals have chosen to make life unbearable and brutal for innocent citizens.

Statistics from Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED), a global monitor that collects, analyses and maps data on conflict and protests, showed that in 2025 alone, 11,968 Nigerians lost their lives due to conflict-related deaths. Here is another shocking fact: in 2025, Nigeria experienced more conflict-related deaths than during the peak of the Boko Haram insurgency in 2014. In 2014, the death toll was a troubling 11,346, and in 2025, it rose to 11,968, averaging 33 deaths per day. Another alarming detail is that from 1 January to 13 February 2026, approximately 1,380 Nigerians were killed.

The bloodshed has endured for years. Communities suffer violence following repeated attacks on residents. The identities of these killers are well known to local residents who suffer from their atrocities. They are also known to the government, which holds intelligence on their movements, networks, and tactics. Yet despite this awareness, the fight against these criminals remains unresolved.

Nigerians, particularly those living in the worst-hit communities, are suffering. The government’s response seems inadequate and ineffective. Citizens increasingly feel abandoned. In Kebbi, for example, residents of Mamunu, Awasaka, Tungan Tsoho, Makangara, Kanzo, Gorun Naidal, and Dan Mai Ago reportedly organised themselves to defend against Lakurawa attacks, and more deadly clashes occurred, leading to further casualties.

What drives these killers? Who funds their operations? What are their ultimate goals? Is the Nigerian government overwhelmed, or is it reluctant to confront the full structure of terror? These are the troubling questions weighing heavily on Nigerians’ minds.

These killers receive support from individuals and organisations, and remain operational through ransom payments extorted from victims. They have links to influential figures. This fact has been recognised for a long time, even by the Nigerian government. Former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan openly admitted that members of Boko Haram were present within his cabinet. Those in the cabinet are the financiers.

Under the late former President Muhammadu Buhari, Nigerians were informed that a list of terror financiers had been compiled and that legal action would follow. In February 2022, Lai Mohammed announced that the Buhari government had identified 96 terror financiers between 2020 and 2021. He stated that some of them would soon face prosecution and asset forfeiture.

But that promise remained unfulfilled. The Buhari presidency ended without prosecuting those terror financiers. Not that the killings stopped anyway. To this day, Lai Mohammed has not explained why a government he served as Information Minister and mouthpiece for nearly eight years, during which thousands of Nigerians were killed and vast properties destroyed, failed to bring the identified financiers to justice.

While Nigeria hesitated, the United Arab Emirates took action. In 2019, an Abu Dhabi court prosecuted and sentenced six Nigerians for funding Boko Haram. Surajo Abubakar Muhammad and Saleh Yusuf Adamu received life imprisonment. Ibrahim Ali Alhassan, AbdurRahman Ado Musa, Bashir Ali Yusuf, and Muhammad Ibrahim Isa were each sentenced to 10 years. They had been arrested in 2017.

Most Nigerians believe, and perhaps rightly so, that these are not the true terror financiers. Those who make killings intractable in Nigeria are well-connected individuals, often with their foreign collaborators. The Nigerian government cannot feign ignorance.

In 2021, the UAE reportedly submitted a list of additional terror financiers to the Nigerian government. That list, however, has remained shrouded in silence, unnamed and unexplained.

Only recently, the United States also froze assets of eight Nigerians linked to Boko Haram. That is a demonstration of seriousness. Not the lacklustre manner in which the Nigerian government is handling this.

If the government were truly committed to exposing and dismantling terror networks, would the names of financiers still be kept secret? If former President Jonathan knew Boko Haram members were part of his cabinet, why were they never publicly identified before he left office in 2015? If the Buhari administration had indeed uncovered sponsors of terrorism, why were they not exposed and prosecuted before that government left power?

Look at Benue State. More than a year ago, Governor Hyacinth Alia stated before a congregation that the violence and killings in the state were orchestrated by Abuja politicians. Yet no names have been mentioned. No arrests have been made. No prosecutions have been initiated.

According to Amnesty International, between January 2023 and February 2024, attacks in Benue have resulted in at least 2,600 deaths, many of them women and children. Eighteen of the state’s 23 local government areas have been affected. The United Nations estimates that 2.1 million people have been displaced and now reside in camps.

Benue, long regarded as the nation’s food basket, has seen some of its farmers become internally displaced persons seeking refuge in camps located in about 18 of the state’s 23 local government areas, with serious implications for food production nationwide.

Despite this devastating reality, the governor has not moved beyond broad accusations. Merely telling us that Abuja politicians are behind the killings in Benue, without identifying or prosecuting them, leaves citizens vulnerable and justice unfulfilled.

Governor Alia, having publicly accused powerful political figures of responsibility for the bloodshed, bears a duty that goes beyond mere rhetoric. The same applies to the Federal Government. Nigerians deserve firm action. Uncovering terror financiers is vital. It is essential. The government cannot treat it as optional.

Until those who fund and sustain violence are identified, prosecuted, and stripped of their influence and assets, the cycle of violence will persist. The fight against terror cannot be won solely on the battlefield. The government must target the financiers. Until the Nigerian government does just that, it cannot absolve itself of culpability.