Nigeria's Security Crisis: When No One Is Safe — Not in a Mosque, Not in a Church
February 26, 2026
Last night, terrorists entered a mosque in Maiyama Local Government Area of Kebbi State while worshippers were in the middle of their prayers. Four people were killed. Five were injured. Some were abducted. The prayer mats were soaked in blood.
The Lakurawa terrorist group has struck again.
This attack did not happen in isolation. It came at the end of one of the deadliest weeks Nigeria has recorded in recent memory — a week in which both a mosque and a church were attacked, Muslims and Christians were killed, and communities across the country were left grieving.
A Week of Blood Across Nigeria
Between February 20 and 26, 2026, verified reports tracked over "123 Nigerians killed" in armed attacks, with at least 12 abductions recorded. The violence cut across regions, religions, and communities with terrifying consistency.
In "Ondo State", bandits kidnapped worshippers from a Celestial Church in Owo Local Government Area. The Akure-Owo road ground to a halt after multiple kidnappings. A traditional ruler was murdered in his palace — one of at least seven Yoruba Obas killed in recent weeks.
In "Oyo State", armed bandits attacked Oderemi in Ido LGA, killing an Oba and a woman. In Ibarapa, specifically Eruwa, bandits carried out kidnappings and killings that left families shattered.
In "Ekiti State", the body of an abducted woman was recovered after seven days. A civil defence officer was tortured by bandits.
In "Zamfara State", 38 people were killed in armed attacks.
In "Kebbi State", just last night, Lakurawa terrorists massacred Muslims at prayer.
And across the country, as reported by the Daily Trust, Muslims were attacked on their way home by berom Christians, their faith offering no protection, their road offering no safety.
This Is Not a Religious War
It would be easy — and dangerous — to frame this crisis along religious lines. Some narratives have done exactly that, selectively highlighting attacks on one faith community while ignoring those suffered by another.
But the facts tell a different story.
A mosque was attacked. A church was attacked. Muslims were killed on the road. Christians were kidnapped from worship. Traditional rulers of all backgrounds were murdered in their own palaces. University students — regardless of faith — could not write their exams because there were killings that morning.
The bandits and terrorists tearing through Nigeria do not carry a religious identity card. They carry weapons. And they are using those weapons against all of us.
When we allow this crisis to be reframed as a Muslim-versus-Christian conflict, we do the terrorists' work for them. Division weakens our collective demand for accountability. Unity is the only language that power is forced to hear.
The Real Crisis: A Governance Failure
Nigeria's insecurity problem is not a mystery. It is the predictable result of years of institutional neglect, underfunded security forces, unchecked borrowing with little to show for it, and leadership that has consistently prioritised political optics over the safety of ordinary citizens.
Communities are being destroyed. Ancestral lands are being abandoned. Families are being displaced. Children are growing up in a country where a trip to the market, a drive on a federal highway, or a moment of prayer in a house of worship can end in abduction or death.
This week also saw an alleged assassination attempt on opposition figure Peter Obi, a reminder that political violence is woven into the same fabric of insecurity that is consuming everyday Nigerians.
The solution is not more silence. It is not more tribalism. It is not more religious finger-pointing.
It is accountability. Urgent, uncompromising accountability from those entrusted with the security of this nation.
What Must Happen Now
Nigeria needs its leaders to treat this crisis with the seriousness it deserves — not with press statements, not with committees, but with decisive, sustained action to dismantle terrorist and bandit networks operating openly across the country.
Nigerians — Muslim and Christian, Northern and Southern — need to resist the temptation to turn on each other. Every time we do, the real enemy wins.
And the rest of the world needs to pay attention. The Lakurawa group. The bandits in the Southwest. The armed groups destabilising the Middle Belt. These are not local problems. They are regional security threats with consequences that extend far beyond Nigeria's borders.
The prayer mats in Kebbi are soaked in blood today. So are the hearts of millions of Nigerians who are tired, grieving, and demanding better.
"We must not look away."
Sources: Daily Trust, CJID Africa tracker, verified reports from X (formerly Twitter) — February 20–26, 2026
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