The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has raised fresh concerns over escalating insecurity across Northern Nigeria, warning that terrorism, banditry, insurgency, and kidnappings are increasingly threatening communities and deepening humanitarian distress.
Speaking at the 79th National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting in Kaduna, ACF Chairman Mamman Mike Osuman said the security situation has worsened sharply since August 2025, with fresh attacks recorded in Kwara, Southern Kaduna, Katsina, Benue, and other states.
“The consequences have been devastating,” Osuman declared. “Families and communities have been violently uprooted and displaced.”
He noted that repeated attacks have forced residents into overcrowded camps and informal settlements, with limited access to food, healthcare, and other basic services, increasing the risk of malnutrition and death among survivors.
Schools have been shut in several affected areas, rural economies crippled, and farming, travel, and healthcare access severely disrupted by fear. “Insecurity has deepened to such an extent that external military assistance has been required,” he added.
Osuman criticised political actors more focused on strategising for the 2027 elections than addressing the realities of hunger, poverty, and violence. “This election season has produced convoluted groups whose focus is not on out-of-school children, hunger, poverty, frequent attacks by kidnappers, banditry, or terrorism, but rather on repositioning ahead of 2027,” he said.
The ACF chairman called on elected and appointed leaders to reconnect with on-the-ground realities and implement urgent security reforms and civil rehabilitation programs. He urged ACF state chapters to move beyond rhetoric and engage governments proactively.
“Our existence must not be merely ceremonial or rhetorical,” Osuman said. “It must be principled, sincere, sacrificial and action-driven.”
In addition to security issues, the Forum moved to strengthen its internal governance, proposing a nine-member Code of Conduct and Ethics Committee, headed by Prof. Nuhu Jamo, a constitutional law expert and legal consultant to the National Assembly.
Osuman also stressed the need for peaceful and credible elections as Northern Nigeria approaches another election cycle, urging citizens to uphold civic responsibility while demanding accountability and practical solutions from leaders.
