Open Letter To President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR On The Endless Atrocities Of Boko Haram, Bandits And Jihadists In Nigeria

By Marshall Israel

Former Federal Commissioner and Public Affairs Analyst

Your Excellency,

I write to you not only as a concerned citizen, but as a former Federal Commissioner of the Public Complaints Commission, a position that offered me a unique window into the daily struggles, fears, and frustrations of the ordinary Nigerian. I have listened directly to the cries of widows, displaced families, victims of abduction, and farmers who can no longer access their lands because of the persistent scourge of terrorism and banditry. Today, I lend my voice once again to urge decisive and compassionate action to end the endless bloodshed that has plagued our nation.

1. Commendation for Leadership Change — and a Clear Demand.

I commend your swift decision to relieve the erstwhile service chiefs of their duties and to appoint a new team of military leaders. This major reshuffle is a strong signal that the presidency recognises the urgency of reforming Nigeria’s security architecture. Recent announcements confirm these senior changes at the highest levels of the Armed Forces.

In that same spirit of decisive leadership, I respectfully urge that the newly appointed service chiefs be given:

e). A clear, public, time-bound mandate to conclude the military campaigns against Boko Haram, bandits, and jihadist networks in their theatres of operation; and

b). Measurable benchmarks (territory cleared and held, numbers of liberated communities, reduction in abductions and attacks, restoration of safe access to farmlands and schools) against which their performance can be assessed.

If these benchmarks are not credibly met within the agreed timeframe, the principle of accountability should apply: commanders who fail to deliver must be replaced. Nigeria cannot afford leadership that presides over perpetual, unresolved insecurity.

2. The Grim Reality.
Despite years of counter-terror operations and assurances of progress, violence by Boko Haram, bandits and other jihadist groups continues to wreak havoc across regions of our country. The killings, abductions and mass displacements are a national emergency that demand sustained, measurable results. The country remains under siege by violent non-state actors. Recent events paint a worrying picture:

In Borno State, at least 57 persons were killed and over 70 abducted in May 2025 after a brutal Boko Haram attack on two villages.

In Zamfara State, armed bandits invaded a community in July 2025, killing at least nine residents and abducting several others.

Security reports identify over 270 hideouts and enclaves of terrorists and bandits spread across the northern states — strongholds exploiting our porous borders and weak state presence.

These atrocities are not isolated acts of terror; they have become an assault on the soul of our nation and a direct challenge to the authority of the Nigerian state.

Despite your administration’s statement that “over 300 Boko Haram and bandit commanders” have been eliminated. Still, the killings, abductions, destruction of property, and displacement of citizens continue unabated.

You yourself asserted, “We will not tolerate evil under the guise of insurgency … crime is crime and has no religious or tribal colouration.” Yet the scale and frequency of attacks suggest that the felt security of many Nigerians remains deeply compromised.

Mr. President, we grant you the credit of acknowledging the problem and committing the resources of the state toward security. Your speeches, directives, and equipment-inductions (for example, new attack helicopters for the Air Force) are positive. But strong words and armaments alone cannot assure victory nor protect civilians unless they are matched by strategy, institution-building, accountability, and inclusion.

Therefore, with the greatest respect for your office, may I submit the following recommendations for your consideration:

a) Institutional & Intelligence Reform.
Strengthen the coordination between all security agencies — military, police, intelligence, paramilitaries, local vigilantes — as you have emphasised. Ensure that intelligence is timely, actionable, and shared across jurisdictions without inter-agency silos.

Invest heavily in human-intelligence and community-based information networks. Too many attacks succeed because the actors know the terrain, the population, the gaps; we must reverse that.

Reform the logistics and command-and-control chains so that rapid reaction to ambushes or raids is possible. Delays cost lives.

Institutionalise clear rules of engagement and oversight so that in the pursuit of bandits or jihadists, the rights of civilians are protected — errors or abuses undermine trust and fuel grievances

b) Terrain & Hideout Clearing Strategy.
Given the existence of hundreds of hideouts/enclaves (e.g., 270 identified in recent reports), the strategy must shift from simply pursuit to deny – clear – hold – build. The state must be present in those terrains, not only striking and then withdrawing.

Deploy mobile task forces, supported by air reconnaissance, drones, and special units, to isolate and saturate remote areas that serve as bandit/jihadist sanctuaries.

After combat operations, immediately follow up with stabilisation forces and civil authorities so communities are protected, rehabilitated, and empowered.

c) Protection of Civilians & Community Resilience.
Prioritise the protection of farming and rural populations. Many communities have been terrorised to stay off their fields, which exacerbates poverty and displacement and helps insurgents.

Establish robust early-warning systems (radios, mobile alerts, community-watch) in high-risk localities.

Provide incentives for communities to cooperate: witness-protection, livelihood support, and community policing credits. When local people feel abandoned, they may either flee or cooperate with insurgents.

Offer victims and survivors prompt compensation, trauma care, and infrastructure rebuilding. Doing so demonstrates that the state is present and cares.

d) Address Root Causes and Social Inclusion.
Engage in root-cause interventions: poverty, youth unemployment, resource-conflict (herder-farmer), and marginalisation. Security will not hold unless structural grievances are tackled.

Launch robust deradicalisation and reintegration programs for low-level insurgents willing to lay down arms. Offer alternative livelihoods rather than endless cycles of violence.

Strengthen education, community stability, and governance in high-risk zones so that the vacuum exploited by extremists is reduced.

e) Transparency, Accountability, and Public Confidence.
Publish periodic, credible data on operations, successes, setbacks, and civilian casualties. Public confidence is eroded by perception of impunity or cover-ups.

Investigate rope-in allegations of corruption, complicity, or negligence within security agencies — these undermine operations more than the enemy’s firepower.

Involve state and local governments meaningfully: security is local as well as national; top-down cannot succeed if the bottom-isolation persists.

f) Engage International & Regional Cooperation.
Work closely with neighbouring countries (e.g., Cameroon, Niger) to seal cross-border flows of arms, fighters, and funds. Some of the insurgents exploit porous borders.

Seek technical assistance in intelligence-fusion, forensics, and counter-terror financing. The war today is as much about money and ideology as it is about bullets.

3. A Call to Courage and Unity.
Mr President, history will judge your administration not only by economic indicators but by whether Nigerians live in safety, whether children can go to school without fear of abduction, whether farmers can tend their land without dread of marauders, whether our state reclaims its monopoly on legitimate violence and protection.

Your previous statements — “enough is enough” — set a tone we welcome. The time for that resolve to reap tangible outcomes is now. What we ask is not impossible: it is within the capability of a determined state and a mobilised society.

4. Closing Appeal.
Mr. President, permit me to express solidarity with the families of victims across our nation and gratitude for your willingness to lead in this crisis. The road ahead will not be easy — insurgents adapt, geography favours them at times, and the cost of war is high. But with clarity of purpose, institutional discipline, and national unity, Nigeria can turn the tide.

Let your leadership usher in a Nigeria where the words “kidnapping”, “mass-abduction”, “village massacre”, “hideout of terrorists” become relics of a tragic past, rather than the recurring headline of tomorrow.

Mr. President, your decision to reshuffle the military top brass is welcome; it demonstrates resolve. Now that you have placed new hands on the helm, give them the resources, the intelligence, the legal mandate, and the accountability framework necessary to finish the job. The people demand—and deserve—peace that is demonstrable, not merely promised.

As someone who has investigated complaints from every stratum of society, I can testify that ordinary Nigerians yearn for a state that protects them. Let us make this administration the one remembered for restoring security and dignity to our nation.

Your Excellency, history beckons. The Nigerian people are resilient, but their patience is waning. The endless cycle of bloodshed cannot define our future. We need a Nigeria where farmers can till their land, traders can travel safely, and children can go to school without fear of abduction.

Let your administration be remembered as the one that finally silenced the guns and restored dignity to the Nigerian people.

Respectfully Yours,

Marshall Israel,
Former Federal Commissioner, Public Complaints Commission (PCC).

25th October 2025.