This week in Nigeria felt like a collision of wounds left untended. Thirty lives have been reduce quick in savage assaults throughout Kebbi and Benue. A teenage pupil was gunned down on the way in which to his WAEC examination by a stray police bullet. Oil revenues price ₦500 billion reportedly vanished, but these meant to guard the nationwide wealth remained silent.
Within the North-East, Governor Zulum pointed fingers at troopers and politicians as Boko Haram collaborators, whereas in Abuja, President Tinubu insisted his reforms have been working, whilst starvation tightens its grip.
These tales, every tragic in its personal proper, when pieced collectively, mirror a nation buckling underneath impunity, official silence, and a harmful erosion of public belief.
1. Bloodbath in Kebbi, Benue: 30 Killed in Bandit, Gunmen Assaults
In Kebbi and Benue states, armed attackers killed not less than 30 farmers and merchants in coordinated weekend assaults. Victims included villagers wrapping up their day’s work and merchants getting back from an area market.
Why it Issues:
This isn’t nearly numbers, it’s about farmers who fed communities and merchants who powered native economies now mendacity lifeless, their blood soaking the earth. The recurring violence in agrarian areas worsens meals insecurity, deepens poverty, and drives communities into concern. The shortage of federal urgency sends a loud, haunting message: rural lives in Nigeria stay expendable. How lengthy earlier than mourning turns into coverage?
2. SERAP to NNPCL: Account for Lacking ₦500 Billion Oil Income
SERAP has accused NNPCL of failing to remit ₦500 billion in oil income generated between October and December 2024. The group is looking for EFCC and ICPC investigations and warns it should sue if the cash isn’t traced inside seven days. NNPCL has but to reply.
Why it Issues:
₦500 billion shouldn’t be summary, it may construct roads, equip hospitals, or feed households in IDP camps. Its disappearance confirms what Nigerians have lengthy suspected: oil wealth flows up, by no means down. At a time when thousands and thousands skip meals and states beg for allocations, the silence from NNPCL displays a disturbing norm, looting in broad daylight with out penalties. That is how nations bleed to demise.
3. Police Bullet Kills WAEC Candidate, Triggers Ibadan Protest
A WAEC candidate was killed by a stray bullet throughout a police chase in Ibadan. The teenager was heading to sit down for his examination when an officer opened hearth at a fleeing suspect. Grief turned to anger as protesters stormed the Oyo State Secretariat, demanding justice and accountability.
Why it Issues:
This unlucky killing, was a system firing blindly at its future. {That a} pupil could possibly be gunned down on the cusp of his educational milestone speaks volumes about police recklessness. Nigerians are uninterested in apologies after each wrongful demise. Reform should transfer past paper to protocol, as a result of the road shouldn’t be a demise sentence for the harmless.
READ ALSO: Nigeria’s Week of Reckoning: Violence, Politics, and Democratic Drift
4. Zulum: Politicians, Troopers Are Boko Haram Informants
Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum alleged that some politicians and navy personnel are aiding Boko Haram. He known as for stronger intelligence efforts, criticised insufficient navy tools, and warned in opposition to politicising insecurity. He additionally defended the state’s reintegration efforts of repentant insurgents.
Why it Issues:
When a sitting governor factors fingers at troopers and politicians as enablers of terror, the nation ought to shudder. It means the struggle isn’t simply in opposition to insurgents, however betrayal from inside. Zulum’s remarks expose a tough fact: with out cleaning the safety and political ranks of saboteurs, no quantity of navy would possibly can win this struggle. It’s a disaster of loyalty, not simply logistics.
5. Tinubu: “My Reforms Are Working” Regardless of Widespread Ache
President Tinubu defended his {economic} reforms, saying hardship is non permanent and obligatory. He was endorsed as APC’s sole 2027 candidate, signalling celebration consolidation regardless of public discontent.
Why it Issues:
The president’s “no ache, no acquire” mantra rings hole for these whose ache has introduced no aid. Reforms with out security nets solely deepen inequality. The irony of a second-term endorsement amid worsening poverty shouldn’t be misplaced on residents. If reforms are actually working, Nigerians must really feel it of their kitchens, not simply hear it at celebration banquets.
Conclusion: Nigeria’s Unrelenting Pressure
This week’s tales usually are not remoted incidents; they’re signs of a failing construction. From the North’s bloodied fields to the South-West’s grieving households, from lacking billions in oil corridors to betrayals within the navy, what ties all of it collectively is the widening hole between the ruled and those that govern.
Management, at its core, is service. However in immediately’s Nigeria, energy typically appears extra about preservation than safety. Till that modifications, these tragedies could stay headlines in a nation rising numb to its personal unraveling.
