URGENT CALL TO NSA – MALAM NUHU RIBADU
By Bashir Yahuza Malumfashi
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This is an Open Letter to National Security Adviser Malam Nuhu Ribadu, on the urgency to end Banditry in Northwest Nigeria
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Dear Malam Nuhu Ribadu,
I write this open letter with a heavy heart and a deep sense of urgency, prompted by the unending bloodshed and sorrow that have become the daily reality of millions in Northwest Nigeria – destardly acts of banditry, killings, raping and arson etc.
As the National Security Adviser, the responsibility to coordinate and drive Nigeria’s security strategy rests heavily on your shoulders. We acknowledge your reputation as a dogged corruption fighter, but today, Nigerians plead with you to channel that same resolve into confronting the scourge of banditry that is tearing our nation apart.
The recent killing of over 20 gallant army officers in Niger State by bandits is not just a tragedy—it is a national embarrassment. These men died in the line of duty, ambushed and outgunned by ragtag militias who, by every measure, should not pose such a potent threat to the sovereignty of the Nigerian state.
What is more painful is the silence and seeming helplessness from the top echelons of power. Sir, how did we come to this low point, where armed civilians like Bello Turji and his likes can repeatedly outmaneuver and overpower our military forces?
Bello Turji and other warlords have continued to operate with impunity across Zamfara, Sokoto, Katsina, and parts of Niger State. They burn villages, collect taxes from locals, abduct school children, and murder the innocent. What strategic advantage do they possess that our nation’s army does not? Why is it that they can communicate via mobile phones, coordinate ambushes, and broadcast threats, yet they cannot be tracked and neutralized using GPRS, drones, or signal intelligence? These are fundamental questions begging for urgent answers.
Where are the fighter jets and surveillance technology that the Nigerian Air Force has spent billions acquiring over the years? Why are these resources not deployed decisively and consistently in these troubled regions?
If we cannot defeat a few thousand armed bandits with our national defense apparatus, what then is the fate of Nigeria in the face of external aggression or insurgency on a larger scale? These are not rhetorical questions. Nigerians deserve answers—and action.
One cannot help but wonder: is there political will to end this war? While our people are being massacred in their homes, the political class, including the current administration, seems more preoccupied with laying foundations for 2027. Campaign posters, political maneuverings, and power games dominate the headlines while blood flows freely in Zamfara, Kaduna, and Katsina. Why is the government appearing aloof to the pain of its citizens?
You, sir, have a duty to advise the President with candor. If there are saboteurs within the military or political class who are benefitting from this insecurity, it is your duty to expose and neutralize them. You once took on the corrupt elite through the EFCC. This is another moment of reckoning—an opportunity to rise to the occasion and cleanse the nation of the rot that has rendered our security institutions impotent.
The morale of the Nigerian Armed Forces is at an all-time low. How do we expect poorly equipped, underpaid, and underappreciated soldiers to face ruthless criminals without clear strategies or proper intelligence? How did we let things deteriorate to this point where state authority is now subordinate to the whims of bandit warlords? Is the Nigerian state still sovereign in the Northwest?
Let it not be said that while you held office as National Security Adviser, Nigeria hemorrhaged from insecurity without decisive intervention. Let it not be recorded that under your watch, entire communities were wiped out while the government slept. You owe it to your conscience, to history, and most of all, to the Nigerian people—especially the widows, orphans, and displaced—who cry daily for justice and peace.
We are not asking for miracles. We are simply asking for the implementation of existing technologies, intelligence coordination, and political will to crush this menace once and for all. Nigeria has the capacity, but the question is: does it have the leadership and sincerity to match?
History beckons, Sir. Your legacy will not be written by how many meetings you held or speeches you gave, but by whether you had the courage to act in the face of a national tragedy. The time to act is now. May you summon the courage and commitment needed to end this carnage and restore dignity to our battered nation.
Sincerely,
Malam Yahuza Malumfashi, Editor-In-Chief, Taskar Gizago Magazine-Online
(A Concerned Nigerian)
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