During an appearance on Head-to-Head on Al Jazeera on March 7, Daniel Bwala, Special Adviser on Policy Communication to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, argued that Nigeria’s insecurity must be understood within its “context.” Yet for many Nigerians, the lived context is unmistakable: a country where kidnappings, bandit attacks, insurgent violence, and mass killings have become recurring features of daily life.
“For millions of Nigerians, ‘context’ is not a theory—it is a daily experience of fear, bloodshed, and survival.”
In Kwara, armed militants reportedly killed more than 170 people on 3-4 February this year in a coordinated attack in Woro and Nuku communities, while 315 schoolchildren, including teachers, were kidnapped at St Mary’s School Papiri, Niger State, on 21 December 2025 and were later released. The President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has announced a series of reforms, such as collaboration with the United States and Turkey in counterterrorism, intelligence sharing and security support, but none have yet addressed the constant kidnappings and bloody attacks. Nigeria’s terror architecture is like a hybrid, multi-faceted structure in which extremist ideology, political exploitation, and economic criminality intersect. At the root of this architecture lie core drivers: religious extremism, power dynamics, money and territorial control, especially over Nigeria’s mineral-rich regions
“Nigeria’s terror is not accidental—it is a system where ideology, politics, and profit converge.”
At the religious front of Nigeria’s security crisis stand Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), two groups whose ideological visions overlap but whose operational models differ. Boko Haram seeks to completely overthrow the Nigerian state system and establish a puritanical Islamic order through violent jihad. Its philosophy rejects Western education and governance as corruptions that must be purged. ISWAP, though an offshoot of Boko Haram, has developed a more structured, quasi-bureaucratic model aimed at building a political entity in Nigeria and the wider Sahel. Its alignment with global jihadist networks gives it both funding and ideological reinforcement. These groups illustrate how religious extremism remains a powerful and persistent pillar of terrorism in Nigeria, driving recruitment, radicalization, and cross-border insurgency.
A recent investigation has alleged that powerful Nigerians—including high-ranking politicians and military officers—protected financiers of Boko Haram and shielded them from investigation
Political Interests: When Power and Violence Intersect
Another critical strand in Nigeria’s terror architecture is the political manipulation of violence. Over the years, allegations have surfaced suggesting some political actors weaponize bandits, ethnic militias, and armed groups to secure electoral advantages or maintain regional influence.Some commentators and testimonies have alleged that bandits from the Sahel were recruited, mobilized, and sponsored during the 2015 election cycle to support political actors seeking power, although the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has consistently denied these claims. Once embedded, these groups entrenched themselves in Nigerian forests and rural communities.
Further claims continue to ignite national debate. Former Kaduna State governor Nasir El-Rufai, speaking on Channels TV, accused the National Security Adviser of making covert payments to bandit leaders. A former aide to Bello Matawalle has further alleged that, during his tenure as governor of Zamfara, the minister of state for defence equipped bandits with vehicles and gifts, using them as political leverage, and that he has continued to maintain contact with them. An accusation that Matawalle has strongly denied.
Economic Drivers: Minerals, Banditry, and Criminal Elite
The economic dimension of Nigeria’s terror crisis is arguably the most explosive. It revolves around illegal mining, rare-earth minerals, and transnational criminal networks. Investigations by ENACT Africa have alleged that certain bandit groups are armed and financed by corrupt Nigerian politicians in partnership with some Chinese mining interests. Violence becomes a strategy: indigenous communities are terrorized and displaced, clearing the path for illegal mining of gold, lithium, and coltan, which are then exported—often to Chinese buyers.
Other investigations further link illegal mining with bandit finances. The Cable and ICIR report that in Zamfara and across the Northwest, illegal artisanal gold mining (ASGM) is tightly woven into bandit activities. Infamous bandit leader Kachalla Mati allegedly earns ₦200–₦300 million weekly from gold operations. Large quantities of Nigeria’s gold are smuggled into Niger and Mali, where they are exchanged for cash or directly bartered for weapons. This has increased arms trafficking networks and weapons fuelling violence, exacerbated by porous borders, criminal networks spanning the Sahel, illegal local fabrication, and corruption among certain political and security officials. The Small Arms Survey notes that Northwest Nigeria is particularly exposed to these flows due to shared ethnic ties and long-standing smuggling corridors. While an ISS report concludes that Nigeria’s borders serve as major arteries for a regional weapons pipeline linking criminal groups, jihadist factions, and political militias. Some analysts and local reports allege that elements within the political and security structures have, at times, failed to adequately responds to attack in the Middle Belt, worsening the security dilemma.
A Crisis Woven from Many Threads.
Nigeria is caught up in a bloodbath that is proving difficult to reverse.
In the words of Ashley Kitisya, Program Manager for Africa at the Laudato Si Movement:
Insecurity in Nigeria is not merely a security failure; it is a product of a deeply intertwined architecture of religious extremism, political interests, and competition over resources. If it hopes to reverse this, the value of human life and dignity must come first over political manipulation and narrow interests.
Also, according to Pope Francis,
‘Every human life has inherent dignity, and that dignity must be recognized and protected.’
Nigeria’s terror landscape is not caused by a single group, ideology, or region. It is a complex architecture built from overlapping interests: jihadist ambition, political opportunism, economic exploitation, and weak governance. Any meaningful solution must therefore be multifaceted—addressing security, governance, and economic justice while dismantling both domestic and foreign networks that profit from violence.
Until then, Nigeria’s cycle of terror will remain self-sustaining: fed by minerals, fuelled by arms, protected by political interests, and justified by extremist ideology.
“Until these networks are dismantled, Nigeria’s violence will remain self-sustaining—fed by minerals, fuelled by arms, and protected by power.”