FG to Safeguard Rural Communities from Terror — Youth Group Urges

The Youth Arise Movement has called on the Federal Government to take immediate action to protect rural communities from the menace of bandits, kidnappers, and other criminal elements. In a statement released on Sunday in Abuja, the group's Convener, Comrade Ademola Babatunde, expressed deep concern over the worsening state of insecurity across the country. According to Babatunde, the lack of adequate security presence and limited protection mechanisms in rural areas have left them vulnerable to repeated attacks. 'For over fifteen years, Nigerians have endured relentless attacks from terrorists, bandits, kidnappers, and other criminal elements. Thousands have been killed, kidnapped, displaced, and subjected to unimaginable suffering. Communities have been destroyed, businesses crippled, and places of worship and learning turned into targets of violence,' the statement partly read. The group particularly condemned recent attacks on schools, students, and teachers, describing the trend as a dangerous escalation that threatens national development. 'Such attacks are not only assaults on innocent citizens but direct attacks on Nigeria's future. Any threat to our children and educational institutions is a threat to national development and collective progress,' the statement warned. The Youth Arise Movement urged the Federal Government to bring together relevant security agencies, including the Department of State Services, the Armed Forces, and the Nigeria Police Force, to develop and implement comprehensive strategies to tackle the crisis. The group also called on governments at all levels to ensure that resources allocated for security and regional development are transparently and effectively deployed to protect schools, communities, farms, and critical infrastructure, particularly in vulnerable areas. 'The security of human lives must remain the primary responsibility of government,' Babatunde stressed, calling for stronger community-based security initiatives, improved intelligence gathering, and enhanced collaboration between security agencies and local communities. The call comes amid a fresh wave of attacks on rural communities across Nigeria, the latest being the torching of five classrooms and a staff office at Government Day Secondary School, Kautikari Village, in Chibok Local Government Area of Borno State by suspected Boko Haram terrorists on Saturday. The attack on the school in Chibok — a community already etched in Nigeria's painful security history following the 2014 mass abduction of schoolgirls — underscores the persistent vulnerability of rural educational institutions to terrorist violence. The Youth Arise Movement described the security challenge as a national emergency that requires unity and collective resolve, adding that it remains committed to advocating for policies that guarantee the safety, dignity, and prosperity of all Nigerians.