In what seems like fear without borders, continuous abductions in Plateau, Benue, Kaduna and Borno communities have left communities trapped in a cycle of hopelessness, looking to a government that cannot protect them.
The dreams of many citizens are cut short by the activities of terrorists who abduct and kill arbitrarily in Nigeria’s most vulnerable communities, deepening the sense of fear and despair.
UniJos Student, John Arum Azi, pleads with bandits to spare his life
In an emotional video, a student from the University of Jos, John Arum Azi, who belongs to the Afizeri tribe in Plateau, is seen being brutally attacked by suspected Fulani terrorists with heavy sticks and a stone on his back.
John Arum Azi, brutalised by his abductors
Advocatus Africa gathered that a client had invited Azi to travel to Kaduna to help repair a keyboard. After leaving his home in Jos on the ill-fated journey, he was abducted.
Holding AK-47 rifles and speaking in Hausa Language, the criminal gang brutalise Azi, questioning his Christian identity.
“Give us N30 million or you’ll forget about your life,” they insisted, pressing harder and harder as he helplessly cried for help.
A screenshot of the terrorists
In response, Azi cries for divine assistance, “Father, God in heaven, please spare my life,” while pleading with his family and people of goodwill to raise the money demanded by the kidnappers to spare his life.
In a related development, Fulani Ethnic Militia (FEM) killed 12 people in the Edikwu-Ankpali community in Apa and Agatu Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Benue State, north-central Nigeria, between April 10 and April 12.
Bodies of the victims
The coordinated attacks on residents of the three Christian communities have raised fears of worsening insecurity across the country’s Middle Belt region.
One resident told TruthNigeria that “dozens of attackers arrived on motorcycles around 6:30 p.m., shortly after many residents had returned from church services.”
He stated that the well-armed Fulani terrorists “were heard speaking Fulfulde and shouting Allahu Akbar,” adding that they “came from different directions, shooting continuously.”
In another disturbing amateur video obtained by Advocatus Africa, one of the abductors in the Ariko community kidnapping, which occurred on Easter Sunday 5, April 2026, in Kachia LGA of Kaduna State, was seen pleading with the general public to raise the ransom for their release.
Between 7 and 15 individuals reportedly escaped their captors, while terrorists kidnapped 35 worshippers from First ECWA Church and St. Augustine Catholic Church during Easter services, killing 7.
Only recently, Advocatus Africa reported a similar disturbing video released by a factional group of Boko Haram Jama’atu Ahlis-Sunna Lidda’Awati Wal-Jihad (JAS), showing 416 abductees, residents of Ngoshe community in Gwoza LGA of Borno State.
The victims, mostly women and children, claimed that they were “safe” and treated nicely by JAS, stressing that the video was shot at the request of mediators to prove that they were alive.
Deployment of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Technology
It is worrisome that bandits and terrorists utilise social media Facebook and TikTok without covering their faces, and they cannot be tracked down and arrested by security agencies.
Recently, while condoling with the victims of Angwan Rukuba Palm Sunday attack at Yakubu Gowon International Airport, Jos, the Plateau State Capital, President Bola Tinubu approved the installation of 5000 CCTV cameras to forestall future attacks.
Shortly after President Tinubu’s brief visit to Plateau State—notably cut short after he remarked he would only stay ten minutes due to a lack of electricity—several communities have come under fire. Suspected Fulani militia have launched fresh attacks on areas including Heipang, located near the airport, and Bukuru within the predominantly Christian state.
In a related development, the Commissioner of Police in Abuja, the Federal Capital (FCT), had claimed that “We have an advanced, efficient and sophisticated technological base to track and fish out any criminal element who intends to peddle fake news at any given time and in any hidden corner nationwide.”
Despite the pledge that it is deploying Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) and drone technologies in counter-terrorism, abductions and killings have continued across the country.
The government’s non-kinetic approach
Some Islamic clerics and top brass security officials of the government have canvassed for adopting a non-kinetic approach to ending insurgency, criminality and terrorism.
Fiery Islamic cleric and bandit sympathiser Sheikh Gumi had reportedly said, “Those bandits are Nigerians with rights and the government should open up avenues to negotiate and listen to their plights.”
In like manner, the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, described the terrorists as “our brothers and children,” adding that “we should look for alternative means to get them to surrender.”
On his part, the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Olufemi Oluyede, recently stated that the criminals should be treated “like the biblical prodigal son,” stressing that we should “give them a chance to repent.”
Despite constant rhetoric and promises of peace and security, recent events in the country indicate that Nigeria is facing existential threats, with a generation under siege by marauding terrorists who engage in an unabated wave of abductions and killings without trace, arrest or prosecution.
