Nigeria’s complex security crisis continues to intensify as kidnap gangs, jihadist factions and separatist movements spread violence across different regions of the country. With more than 250 ethnic groups and a population split between a mainly Muslim north and a largely Christian south, insecurity has taken root in ways that stretch the country’s 400,000-strong army and its 370,000 police officers. Attacks affect people across all faiths and backgrounds, creating a nationwide emergency that grows more complicated each year.
Which Kidnap Gangs and Jihadist Groups Are Fueling Violence?
In the north-west, criminal groups known locally as bandits dominate. These gangs consist mostly of Fulani pastoralists who have abandoned traditional herding for high-profit kidnapping. Their rise is linked to the influx of weapons across the region after the fall of Libya in 2011. Moving in large groups on motorcycles, they strike quickly and evade security forces with ease. With no central leadership, each gang follows its own commander, including well-known figures such as Ado Aleru and Bello Turji. The government designated these gangs as terrorists in 2022, yet attacks, extortion and kidnappings continue to spread across Zamfara, Kebbi, Niger and other states. Younger members increasingly flaunt guns and ransom money on TikTok, attracting large online followings.
In the north-east, Boko Haram remains one of Nigeria’s most notorious militant groups. The faction gained global attention in 2014 after kidnapping more than 200 Chibok schoolgirls, many of whom are still missing. Evolving from an Islamist sect founded by Mohammed Yusuf in 2002, the group turned to full insurgency in 2009 following Yusuf’s death in police custody. Under Abubakar Shekau’s leadership, Boko Haram controlled large territories and ruled them through appointed emirs. Thousands of women and children were taken captive and forced into sexual slavery, domestic labour or used in attacks. Although weakened after Shekau’s death, the group still launches deadly assaults and kidnappings across rural areas, often targeting vulnerable communities.
From Boko Haram grew Iswap, the Islamic State in West Africa Province, formed around 2016 by commanders who opposed Shekau’s tactics. They avoid attacking Muslim civilians and instead focus on military and state targets. The group remains active, continues to clash with Boko Haram and has been linked to ambushes, including the killing of Brig Gen Musa Uba in Borno state. Some officials blame Iswap and Boko Haram for recent school kidnappings, although analysts argue the attacks were carried out by bandits. Another splinter group, Ansaru, has shifted operations toward central regions and was involved in the 2022 Abuja-Kaduna train attack that left at least seven people dead and more than 100 abducted.
Additional threats include Mahmuda, a suspected Boko Haram offshoot linked to Islamic State networks and active around Kainji Lake National Park. The group has attacked markets, vigilante groups and rural communities across Kwara, Niger and Kebbi states. Lakurawa, another militant group, operates in Sokoto, Kebbi and Niger, imposing strict controls on local residents and engaging in cattle rustling, ransom kidnappings and targeted attacks. In 2025 it was officially classified as a terrorist organisation. The Sahel-based group JNIM has also begun moving toward Nigeria, claiming its first attack in Kwara in 2025 and posing a new regional threat.
How Are Resource Conflicts and Separatist Movements Adding to the Crisis?
Central Nigeria continues to battle long-running clashes between herders and farmers, driven by competition for land and water. While sometimes portrayed as religious conflict, the core tensions revolve around grazing rights and shifting migration routes. Urban expansion has pushed communities into traditional grazing paths, fuelling retaliation and leading to the rise of ethnic militias. States such as Kaduna, Benue, Plateau, Nasarawa and Taraba remain hotspots despite attempts to contain the violence through ranching policies and anti-open grazing laws.
In the south-east, separatist tensions linked to decades-old demands for Biafran independence remain volatile. The Indigenous People of Biafra, or Ipob, led by Nnamdi Kanu, was designated a terrorist organisation in 2017. Its armed wing, the Eastern Security Network, has been tied to arson, kidnappings and killings across several south-eastern states. These actions have displaced thousands and led to strict stay-at-home orders that have crippled local economies. Kanu was convicted on terrorism-related charges last week and sentenced to life in prison, while a BBC investigation revealed efforts by various groups to promote narratives of “Christian genocide” abroad.
Across Nigeria, each group operates with its own motives, territories and methods, creating a landscape where violence spreads faster than security forces can contain it. The overlapping crises highlight how deeply the country’s political, ethnic and resource challenges intersect, leaving millions caught in the middle of ongoing instability.
By Lucky Anyanje